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Advances in emerging field of ‘theranostics’ are a game-changer Millions of patients around the globe rely on the regular and timely production of diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes produced in research reactors and accelerator facilities. Image courtesy IAEA. Advances in medical isotope diagnostics and therapy are holding promise for cancer patients, despite challenges facing the nuclear medical field in recent years related to radionuclide production and supply, rising costs, and stricter regulation.

Medical isotopes are radioactive substances used in various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to treat various types of cancers and other conditions. They are essential for modern medicine, allowing physicians to visualise and target specific organs, tissues and cells in a patient’s body.

Over more than a decade, personalised medicine using nuclear techniques has been gaining pace, allowing doctors to tailor therapies and treatments to the specific needs and physiology of a patient, and to avoid harm to healthy organs or tissues.

According to Sven Van den Berghe, chief executive of Belgium-based isotope producer PanTera, one technique that has seen significant advances is known as theranostics – the term used to describe the combination of using one radioactive drug to diagnose and a second to deliver therapy to treat the main tumour and any metastatic tumours.

Date: Friday, 14 April 2023
Original article: nucnet.org/news/sector-aims-to-tackle-isotope-supply-problems-as-excitement-grows-over-targeted-therapies-4-4-2023

All realistic options that might contribute to global net-zero must be considered, the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) has said in an open letter to COP26 President Alok Sharma. Nuclear systems and advanced reactors - such as Generation IV systems - can contribute to a net-zero society alongside renewable energies, it says.

Date: Saturday, 30 October 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/GIF-calls-for-nuclear-s-inclusion-in-COP26-discuss

Nuclear energy, as an asset class, has the potential to report well against a wide range of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data collection and accounting metrics, according to a new report from the Generation IV International Forum (GIF). This should allow nuclear energy to be considered as an investable asset class, thereby allowing nuclear companies and projects to access climate finance.

Date: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/GIF-highlights-nuclear-s-ESG-attributes

Agency schedules webinar and warns of possible shortages at hospitals A researcher at Indonesia’s National Nuclear Agency using a hot cell to prepare a radiopharmaceutical. Courtesy M. Gaspar/IAEA. The production of radioisotopes used to produce radiopharmaceuticals for medical procedures has continued during the Covid-19 pandemic, but hospitals could face shortages due to bottlenecks in transport and distribution, the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned.

An agency survey conducted among operators of research reactors that produce radioisotopes for radiopharmaceuticals shows that most major actors continue to produce radioisotopes because the production facilities have been defined as essential by the relevant governments.

However, many airlines are no longer operating because of the pandemic and borders are closed, which affects the distribution of medical radioisotopes around the world.

Joao Osso Junior, head of the radioisotope products and radiation technology section at the IAEA, said the agency is working to assess the need for medical radioisotopes because most research and education activities using isotopes have been put on hold and many hospitals have delayed diagnosis applications.

Date: Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/radioisotope-industry-facing-distribution-challenges-says-iaea-4-2-2020

The production of medical radioisotopes has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic but bottlenecks in transport and distribution could lead to shortages at hospitals, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) survey of the research reactors where the isotopes are produced.

Date: Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Medical-isotope-supply-chain-faces-challenges-from

The UK government’s plans to leave the European Union (EU), and consequently the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), could threaten plans to build new nuclear reactors and decommissioning activities, as well as jeopardise energy security due to the impact on nuclear fuel supplies, according to a new report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMech). The intention that the UK should leave Euratom was announced in the recent ‘Brexit Bill’, in part due to Euratom being enforced by the European Court of Justice and managed by EU institutions.

Date: Monday, 20 February 2017
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsmore-concern-over-brexit-5743855

Following an 11-day mission to South Africa, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team said on 15 December that South Africa has a robust regulatory framework for nuclear safety but recommended improvements in the oversight of radiation safety.

Date: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiaea-recommends-improvement-to-south-africas-regulatory-system-5702054

A Japanese consortium has bought a 20% stake of Canada's Uranium One international mining business, which holds rights to mines in Kazakhstan, the USA, South Africa and Australia, for CAD270m (JPY 20.2bn).

Date: Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsjapanese-consortium-buys-in-to-uranium-one