UT Austin produces alternative means of enriching targets

The University of Texas Austin announced yesterday that a new method for enriching targets for medical isotopes has been developed and patented.

Mark Raizen, PhD, professor of physics in The University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences, and colleagues are enriching targets with a system they are calling MAGIS (magnetically activated and guided isotope separation), which utilizes magets and lasers to concentrate select isotopes.

"Isotopes are among the most expensive commodities on Earth," said Raizen in a press release. "One ounce of a stable isotope that needs the calutron to separate it can run around $3 million. That's roughly 2,000 times the price of gold. And that has held back certain medical therapies."

The proprietary system may be a cheaper or more environmentally conscious option for some isotopes. Current lithium-7 production is associated with mercury contamination. For this reason its production has been banned in the U.S. A new waste-conscious method could potentially turn that around.

"There are many potential uses of isotopes that we don't even know yet,” Raizen added. “But they've been held back because the price has been so high, or it's been unavailable. That will be one of the missions of the foundation — to explore and develop isotopes to benefit humanity."

Concern that terrorists could appropriate MAGIS to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons has been brought up. Raizen said that uranium's chemical characteristics render that highly unlikely.