SHINE Awarded Funds for Mo-99

by Taylor Kennedy

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration awarded SHINE Medical Technologies $3.28 million as part of a a $6.6 million cooperative agreement, the company announced Monday.

According to a release, the funds will help establish a reliable, domestic supply of molybdenum (Mo-99) without the use of highly-enriched uranium.

“Support from the NNSA continues to accelerate the deployment of our medical isotope facility in Janesville,” CEO Greg Piefer said in a statement. “The partnership provides valuable technical and financial assistance, and this phase of funding takes us one step closer to providing patients with life-saving medical isotopes.”

Mo-99 is is used daily to diagnose medical conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Currently, the United States must rely on foreign producers of Mo-99 because of an absence of a domestic production capability.