The U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) has stewardship over the Brookhaven Linear Isotope Producer (BLIP) Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); the Isotope Production Facility (IPF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL); and hot cell facilities for processing isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), BNL, and LANL. Additionally, the program supports the production of isotopes at a number of other facilities: the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL, the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the Tritium Facility at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), the Low-Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
In addition to national laboratory production and development, DOE partners with universities to invest in R&D and to develop production capabilities. These universities not only present unique infrastructure capabilities and expertise but also are essential to workforce development. The University of Washington and the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center (MURR) became the first members of the DOE IP University Isotope Network.
Note: The isotopes listed below are a sample of the isotopes produced at each of the sites.
Transportation
Following production, the individual sites dispense, package, and ship materials per customer orders received by the NIDC. The NIDC provides guidance on shipping containers/packaging, export control, licensing requirements, and shipping schedules. Most stable isotope orders are milligram quantities and are shipped as non-regulated or de minimis quantities as required by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and International Air Transport Association IATA). Some others require full DOT consideration and packaging. Most radioactive isotope shipments are normal form in DOT Type A packages, with some requiring special form encapsulation and/or Type B packages. All packages must meet DOT and IATA regulations for radioactive material shipments.
