NIDC News

Featured Isotopes: See what's available this September
The DOE Isotope Program maintains an extensive inventory of radioactive and stable isotopes. Below are a select few that are currently in inventory and ready to dispense to meet your research and commercial needs.
Join us for Fall Stakeholder Meetings!
The Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) invites you to join us for virtual "one-on-one" stakeholder meetings on Sep. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 3, 2024.
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The Department of Energy Office of Science is filling a position for the Isotope R&D and Production Office. The position will function as a program manager for Stable Isotope Operations.

DOE Isotope Program Highlights

Student working in the Texas A&M University lab processing astatine-211. Image courtesy of Texas A&M University.

New Understanding of Astatine’s Chemical Properties Will Aid Targeted Alpha Therapy for Cancer

Recently, scientists at Texas A&M University investigated astatine’s behavior when interacting with ion exchange and extraction chromatography resins.
Illustration by Christopher Orosco, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Illustration of the structure of the radium compound characterized in this research. Single crystal X-ray diffraction provided detailed information on the bonding of radium in an organic molecule for the first time.

A First Look Inside Radium’s Solid-State Chemistry

Researchers used single crystal X-ray diffraction to learn about the structure and bonding of a highly radioactive radium compound.
Image courtesy of Bobba, K.N., et al., Evaluation of cerium/lanthanum-134 as a PET imaging theranostic pair for 225Ac alpha radiotherapeutics. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 64, 7 (2023). Radiopharmaceuticals based on cerium/lanthanum-134 have promise for prostate cancer imaging and therapy. At right, tumors show high tumor uptake of cerium-134. At left, a comparison of cerium-134 and actinium-225 shows a similar pattern of uptake in most tissues (note the tumor tissue on the leg).

Transforming Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment with Cerium/Lanthanum-134

Researchers advance the use of cerium/lanthanum-134 for medical scans in actinium-225 cancer therapy.