SHINE Technologies LLC is paving the way to increase the production of critical medical isotopes here in the United States, Wisconsin Inno reports. 

The company’s CEO Greg Piefer detailed the plans at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference on June 2, stating that production would be achieved via small-scale nuclear transmutation. The facility, located in Janesville, could begin producing isotopes as soon as next year, with plans to expand upon that production by 2024. 

Part of the multi-phase plan includes nuclear waste recycling. When medical isotopes are produced in nuclear reactors, this creates waste that can persist for thousands of years. Waste recycling is the third phase of the project, and will focus on dissolving nuclear waste and separating out valuable materials.  

Along with SHINE, Northwest Medical Isotopes, LLC was also granted support a few years ago by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to produce Mo-99 commercially. Other than that, there are research reactors in the U.S. that are capable of producing medical radioisotopes, when necessary, but typically this occurs only in emergency situations, such as when operations are unexpectedly halted at other reactors. This was the case in January 2022, when a high-flux reactor in the Netherlands was damaged and had to delay its first cycle, which disrupted the supply chain through March of 2022.