NIDC News
Our NIDC News reports the latest developments in U.S. Department of Energy’s isotope production efforts, university partnerships, facility improvements, staff news, and other notable center activities as they occur. Stay Connected

September 24, 2019
Are you planning to attend the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Annual Congress in Barcelona, Spain? If so, then stop by Booth #27, located at the entrance to the exhibit hall, to speak with our staff about your isotope needs and to find informational material on our latest products and services, R&D initiatives, and more.
We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

August 22, 2019
Don't Miss Your Chance to Meet with the DOE Isotope Program
The U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) has set aside Monday, October 28, and Tuesday, October 29, 2019, for "one-on-one" stakeholder meetings. These meetings offer a great opportunity for the isotope community to personally discuss isotope supply and demand issues with the DOE IP Director, DOE program managers, and the…

August 6, 2019
Take a behind-the-scenes look at our production of medical isotopes, critical to providing diagnostic and therapeutic products for the medical community. View Video

July 17, 2019
The actinides – those chemical elements on the bottom row of the periodic table – are used in applications ranging from medical treatments to space exploration to nuclear energy production. But purifying the target element so it can be used, by separating out contaminants and other elements, can be difficult and time-consuming.
Now researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley…

June 11, 2019
Recently the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC), managed by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science for Nuclear Physics, updated the half-life value of actinium-225 (Ac-225) to 9.92 days. This is a change from the previously used value of 10.0 days.
This update was made based on a paper published in Applied Radiation and Isotopes titled "Measurement of the Ac-225…

May 30, 2019
Recycled medical devices, diverted from going to a special landfill, supply the key ingredient in a drug that treats prostate cancer. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed and demonstrated a process to produce actinium-227 using harvested radium-226 from legacy medical devices. The devices are secured by the Department of Energy Isotope Program. Scientists convert the…

April 30, 2019
SNMMI is Right Around the Corner...
We would like to invite you to join the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) for breakfast as we host an Isotope Program Overview meeting on Monday, June 24th at 7:00 am. The Director of the DOE IP, Dr. Jehanne Gillo, will present an overview of the program and discuss the availability of new isotopes and planned development efforts.
In addition…
March 13, 2015
The DOE Isotope Program (DOE IP) is pleased to announce the availability of radium-224/lead-212 generators. Lead-212 (10.6 hour half-life) and its daughter bismuth-212 (60.6 minute half-life) are of interest in targeted alpha-particle therapy of cancer, including breast and ovarian cancers and melanoma. Research in progress is demonstrating the effectiveness of these isotopes in destroying cancer…

May 16, 2019
Join Us for the Isotope User Group Meetings
The U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program will host three isotope-specific user group meetings during the upcoming SNMMI 2019 conference in Anaheim, CA. These 1-hour sessions offer a unique opportunity for isotope users to congregate and tackle pertinent issues through open discussion. Knowledgeable facilitators will guide…

February 21, 2019
Zirconium-89 is a radionuclide that’s just right for cancer tumor imaging. When the isotope is combined with a tumor-seeking molecule, it lasts long enough in the body to find the tumor and to be imaged. Researchers developed a less labor-intensive and more efficient way to chemically process and purify the isotope. They use a low energy cyclotron, a simple target station, and an automated…