Legislation News & Report (TM) 

TheWeekInCongress.com (TM)

Managing America: Health & Safety

TheWeekInCongress.com (TM)

Week Ending November 6, 2009

H.R.3276 To promote the production of molybdenum-99 in the United States for medical isotope production, and to condition and phase out the export of highly enriched uranium for the production of medical isotopes.

Molybdenum-99 (MD99) is a radio active isotope with a relatively short shelf life that is used in a variety of medical procedures to detect illness. All M-99 is imported because the US does not have the facilities to manufacture it. The primary importer is Canada and its reactor was recently shut down causing a shortage of M-99 in the US and delays or postponements of medical procedures.

While MD-99 is made using highly enriched uranium (HEU) a recent study concluded it can be made with low enriched uranium, uranium enriched to 20%.

The Secretary of Energy is directed to establish a program to evaluate and support projects that would produce significant quantities of molybdenum-99 without the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU). The isotope would be used for medical purposes.

The projects funded will be conditioned on the length of time they would take to begin production of MD-99; the capability of producing a significant percentage of M-99 for use in the US; and the cost of the projects. A reactor fueled by HEU would not be disqualified from the program if there is no alternative fuel that can be used and the reactor operator has provided assurances that, whenever an alternative fuel can be used it will use that fuel rather than HEU.

The program would provide assistance for the development of fuels, targets, and processes for the domestic M-99 and commercial operations using the fuels, targets and processes.

Under the program HEU would be made available through lease contracts for production of M-99.

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 would be amended to prohibit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing licenses to export HEU from the US beginning 7 years after the bill is enacted. The NRC Commissioner would report to Congress on the disposition of previously exported HEU. The report must include the location, whether they were irradiated, use, alternative use, the year of export or re-importation, current physical and chemical forms and appropriate storage.

The NRC could issue a license for the use of HEU as a target for medical isotope production in a nuclear reactor if conditions are met.

Sponsor:  Rep. Edward Markey (MA-7^th)

Vote: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 400 - 17 (Roll no. 863).

Cost to the taxpayers: $163 million is authorized from 2010 to 2014.

Earmark Certification:  

## All Rights Reserved. © 2009 TheWeekInCongress.com(TM)

No reproduction, language translation or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.(TM)

MORE INFORMATION

Congress finds the following:

(1) Molybdenum-99 is a critical medical isotope whose decay product technecium-99m is used in approximately two-thirds of all diagnostic medical isotope procedures in the United States, or 16 million medical procedures annually, including for the detection of cancer, heart disease, and thyroid disease, investigating the operation of the brain and kidney, imaging stress fractures, and tracking cancer stages.

(2) Molybdenum-99 has a half-life of 66 hours, and decays at a rate of approximately one percent per hour after production. As such, molybdenum-99 cannot be stockpiled. Instead, molybdenum-99 production must be scheduled to meet the projected demand and any interruption of the supply chain from production, to processing, packaging, distribution, and use can disrupt patient care.

(3) There are no facilities within the United States that are dedicated to the production of molybdenum-99 for medical uses. The United States must import molybdenum-99 from foreign production facilities, and is dependent upon the continued operation of these foreign facilities for millions of critical medical procedures annually.

(4) Most reactors in the world which produce molybdenum-99 utilize highly enriched uranium, which can also be used in the construction of nuclear weapons. In January 2009, the National Academy of Sciences encouraged molybdenum-99 producers to convert from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium, and found that there are `no technical reasons that adequate quantities cannot be produced from LEU targets in the future' and that `a 7-10 year phase-out period would likely allow enough time for all current HEU-based producers to convert'.

(5) The 51-year-old National Research Universal reactor in Canada, which is responsible for producing approximately sixty percent of United States demand for molybdenum-99 under normal conditions, was shut down unexpectedly May 14, 2009, after the discovery of a leak of radioactive water. It is unclear whether the National Research Universal reactor will be able to resume production of molybdenum-99.

(6) The United States currently faces an acute shortage of molybdenum-99 and its decay product technetium-99m due to technical problems which have seriously interrupted operations of foreign nuclear reactors producing molybdenum-99.

(7) As a result of the critical shortage of molybdenum-99, patient care in the United States is suffering. Medical procedures requiring technetium-99 are being rationed or delayed, and alternative treatments which are less effective, more costly, and may result in increased radiation doses to patients are being substituted in lieu of technetium-99.

(8) The radioactive isotope molybdenum-99 and its decay product technetium-99m are critical to the health care of Americans, and the continued availability of these isotopes, in a reliable and affordable manner, is in the interest of the United States.

(9) The United States should move expeditiously to ensure that an adequate and reliable supply of molybdenum-99 can be produced in the United States, without the use of highly enriched uranium.

(10) The United States should accelerate its efforts to convert nuclear reactors worldwide away from the use of highly enriched uranium, which can be used in nuclear weapons, to low enriched uranium. Converting nuclear reactors away from the use of highly enriched uranium is a critically important element of United States efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism, and supports the goal announced in Prague by President Barack Obama on April 5, 2009, to create `a new international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years'.

All Rights Reserved. © 2009 TheWeekInCongress.com(TM)

No reproduction, language translation or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.(TM)