DOE Isotope Program Highlights
![Suzanne Lapi](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2021-01/Lapi%20in%20lab%201000x500_1.jpg?h=55b7e674&itok=lVfcpHQz)
Suzanne E. Lapi: What did the 2011 Early Career Award allow you to do?
The ECA project enabled me to get started with solid targets for the accelerator production of radioisotopes.
![Los Alamos scientist Veronika Mocko processing cerium-134 in the "Hot Cells" at Los Alamos National Laboratory.](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-12/LANL%20Ce-134%20production_1000x500.jpg?h=e5c11573&itok=qrKe-uCL)
New diagnostic isotope to enhance targeted alpha therapy for cancer
Team brings a new tool for alpha therapy by developing a paired isotope option for PET scans.
![Ce-134 mimicking Ac-225 and Th-227](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-12/Ce-134%20and%20La-134%20image2.jpg?h=3d848cb3&itok=IZyqrJ5k)
Ce-134 and La-134 pair as companion PET diagnostic isotopes for Ac-225 and Th-227
Ce-134 and its daughter La-134 can be used as a PET imaging candidate for 225AcIII or 227ThIV.
![Californium-272 production team. Standing left to right - John Courtney, Dan Bettinger, Julie Ezold, Ed Smith, and Scott White.](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-12/2020-P15010%20Cf-252%20crew_1000x500_0.jpg?h=a965ed18&itok=l-7brOCI)
ORNL's Californium-252 Will Play Pivotal Role in New Reactor Startups
ORNL is the only place in the world capable of efficiently producing the radioisotope californium-252.
![Sandra Davern performs cell based assays to evaluate cell death and DNA damage in response to radiation in order to gain a better understanding of how radioisotope nanoparticles affect the human body.](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-11/2020-P15712_Sandra%20Davern.jpg?h=da93cdc2&itok=shJoWjde)
The Big Impact
When Sandra Davern looks to the future, she sees individualized isotopes sent into the body with a specific target: cancer cells.
![Workers load uranium slugs into the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge in 1943](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-07/topNteaser_X-10Reactor.jpg?h=77c29bf7&itok=v0LHF2DI)
A Forgotten Legacy: How Nuclear Reactors Built for War Transformed Peacetime Science
Isotopes were discovered in the early 20th century, during a period of remarkable progress in our understanding of matter.
![HFIR Pools](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-06/2010-P03124_1000x500.jpg?h=5ea3caec&itok=JEZXVR3Z)
Isotopes - Improved Process for Medicine
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have discovered a better way to separate actinium-227, a rare isotope essential for an FDA-approved cancer treatment.
![Hot cell at LANL](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-06/LANL%20image%20in%20santafenewmexican_1000x500.jpg?h=a930f5a5&itok=G_i3LSPS)
Ordinary People Extraordinary Times
As COVID-19 alters American life, a once-anonymous collection of workers have kept Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico in operation.
![Argonne Facebook Live Still](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-02/Argonne%20Facebook%20Video%20Still.jpg?h=b8dcd7e7&itok=8FXSgpuF)
Medical Isotope Production at Argonne National Laboratory
Everyday, doctors use medical isotopes to diagnose and treat various illnesses, including cancer.
![Tennessine](/sites/default/files/styles/center_news_homepage/public/2020-02/tennessine-logo-final_0.jpg?h=eb65fc4a&itok=B007Ed-Y)
NPR Story: The Convoluted Story of How The First Atoms of Tennessine Were Created
Tennessine is an extremely rare element. Only a few dozen atoms of it have ever been produced. The tale of how the first atoms of Tennessine were created is complicated.