New Oak Ridge Lab Accelerates Actinium-225 Supply for Next-Generation Cancer Therapies
核心洞察
A newly installed analytical laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (搜索)'s Building 2026 will cut sample analysis turnaround from four months to roughly two weeks, accelerating isotope shipments.
The lab supports Isotek Systems (搜索)' extraction of thorium-229 (搜索), the parent isotope of actinium-225 (搜索), from the nation's uranium-233 (搜索) inventory, the only major global source of thorium-229.
TerraPower Isotopes (搜索) recovers actinium-225 (搜索) from the thorium-229 (搜索), providing commercial-scale access to the isotope for targeted alpha therapy clinical trials worldwide.
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor Isotek Systems (搜索) have completed installation of a new analytical laboratory that both accelerates the highest-priority cleanup project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (搜索) (ORNL) and speeds delivery of a crucial material for cancer (搜索) treatment research.
Located in Building 2026, where processing operations are already underway, the lab provides in-house capabilities to analyze samples of processed material, leading to accelerated shipments. "This addition brings an immediate return on investment," said OREM Manager Erik Olds. "It helps avoid delays by providing employees more data and faster results as they make decisions and process material for disposal. This new, unique capability also provides us opportunities to support other priority projects in the future."
From Legacy Waste to Modern Medicine
Isotek is tasked with eliminating the nation's inventory of uranium-233 (搜索) stored at ORNL. The uranium-233 was created in the 1950s and 1960s for potential use in nuclear reactors but proved unviable as a fuel source. Its removal eliminates a major risk, avoids significant taxpayer costs to keep the inventory safe and secure, and enables demolition of the storage facility to transform ORNL's central campus and open space for important research missions.
Crews disposed of about half of the inventory directly, but the remainder required processing to convert it into a form safe for transportation and disposal out of state. According to the American Nuclear Society, Isotek has already disposed of about three-fourths of the inventory, and while the company has surpassed the halfway mark of the processing campaign, challenging work remains to complete the project in coming years.
Extracting a Rare Medical Isotope
Before processing and disposal, Isotek is extracting a rare medical isotope, thorium-229 (搜索), from the uranium-233 (搜索). Through an innovative public-private partnership with nuclear innovation company TerraPower Isotopes (搜索), the isotopes help fuel next-generation cancer (搜索) treatments. TerraPower Isotopes provides sustained, commercial-scale access to the isotopes to the global pharmaceutical community, and they are now being used in clinical trials around the world.
The uranium-233 (搜索) in storage at ORNL is the only major source of thorium-229 (搜索) in the world. Through this project, Isotek has increased the global supply by over 2,000%.
Accelerating Actinium-225 Delivery
TerraPower Isotopes (搜索) uses a radioisotope decay–based technique to extract actinium-225 (搜索) from the thorium-229 (搜索) it receives from Isotek. Actinium-225 is being investigated in a number of clinical trials focused on targeted alpha therapy for patients with cancer (搜索).
At the new lab, Isotek can analyze samples of extracted isotopes for faster results and delivery to TerraPower Isotopes (搜索), avoiding previous delays caused by sending samples to labs elsewhere for analysis. Employees will receive results in about two weeks instead of four months.
"The Building 2026 analytical lab will allow Isotek to not only transfer thorium-229 (搜索) to TerraPower Isotopes (搜索) much more quickly, but it will also allow the processing team to make adjustments to increase the recovery of thorium-229 much more quickly," said Sarah Schaefer, Isotek president and project manager.
Scott Claunch, president of TerraPower Isotopes (搜索), said the future of precision medicine relies on a dependable supply of actinium-225 (搜索), which the company recovers from Isotek's thorium-229 (搜索). "Isotek's investment in a state-of-the-art laboratory to speed up the processing of actinium-225's parent isotope will help continue to expand production capacity, strengthen the global isotope supply chain and ultimately expand access to new cancer (搜索) therapies to those who need it most."
The first treatments using this material commercially are expected in 2028.