DOE Isotope Program Highlights

News highlights from all participating national laboratories, university facilities, and other research institutions which feature work from the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program can be found here.

Image courtesy of Chris Orosco/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Artists’ depiction of a new potential cancer treatment vehicle—an engineered nanometer-size construct that holds a radioactive isotope that can be delivered to destroy cancer cells.

Killing Cancer with Radioactive Nanocrystals

The Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) continues to enable groundbreaking developments in cancer research through the provision of medically relevant isotopes.
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Image courtesy of Jacquelyn DeMink (art) and Thomas Dyke (photography), Oak Ridge National Laboratory Conceptual art showing the rare earth element promethium in a vial surrounded by an organic ligand.

Promethium Chemistry Breakthrough Could Unlock New Applications

Recently, Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were able to study the electronic structure of a promethium complex, providing new information about promethium’s chemical and physical properties.
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Illustration of an idealized extraction chromatographic resin using DGA or LN extractants. By studying the adsorption properties of terbium on these DGA and LN resins, scientists gain insights into these properties for the entire lanthanide series. Image courtesy of Connor Holiski

Understanding the Adsorption Properties of Terbium for Future Medical Use

In this study, supported by the Department of Energy Isotope Program, managed by the Department of Energy Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production, researchers explored how terbium binds to these resins as a function of temperature.
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Concept of the automated system for remote dissolution of the irradiated bismuth target and astatine recovery in nitric acid media. Conceptual design by Evgeny Tereshatov, Texas A&M University Graphic Design by Nathan Clark, Office of Science, Communications and Public Affairs

Automated Nuclear Chemistry Boosts Astatine Production for Cancer Therapy

A team of researchers designed and tested an automated protocol aimed at reducing the At-211 processing procedure from dissolution of the irradiated target through column purification in just 20 minutes.
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Image courtesy of Mike Zach, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This electron microscope image shows spherical bismuth powder. Each particle in the photo is about the diameter of a human hair (approximately 60 micrometers).

Spherical Powders Enable New Applications for Metals

Free-flowing metal powders offer improvements for additive manufacturing, isotope production target fabrication, and more.
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Student working in the Texas A&M University lab processing astatine-211. Image courtesy of Texas A&M University.

New Understanding of Astatine’s Chemical Properties Will Aid Targeted Alpha Therapy for Cancer

Recently, scientists at Texas A&M University investigated astatine’s behavior when interacting with ion exchange and extraction chromatography resins.
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Image courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory Abstract representation of subcooled flow boiling modeled on experimental data collected for the Los Alamos National Laboratory Isotope Production Facility.

Deep Learning Model Developed to Optimize Isotope Production Target Cooling Systems

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Illustration by Christopher Orosco, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Illustration of the structure of the radium compound characterized in this research. Single crystal X-ray diffraction provided detailed information on the bonding of radium in an organic molecule for the first time.

A First Look Inside Radium’s Solid-State Chemistry

Researchers used single crystal X-ray diffraction to learn about the structure and bonding of a highly radioactive radium compound.
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Image courtesy of Bobba, K.N., et al., Evaluation of cerium/lanthanum-134 as a PET imaging theranostic pair for 225Ac alpha radiotherapeutics. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 64, 7 (2023). Radiopharmaceuticals based on cerium/lanthanum-134 have promise for prostate cancer imaging and therapy. At right, tumors show high tumor uptake of cerium-134. At left, a comparison of cerium-134 and actinium-225 shows a similar pattern of uptake in most tissues (note the tumor tissue on the leg).

Transforming Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment with Cerium/Lanthanum-134

Researchers advance the use of cerium/lanthanum-134 for medical scans in actinium-225 cancer therapy.
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Image courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory Depiction of a titanium-44/scandium-44 generator. The generator consists of a hydroxamate-based resin undergoing scandium-44 elution with hydrochloric acid.

Scientists Identify an Alternative System for Producing the Medical Isotope Scandium-44

An easy-to-use system can increase the availability of PET imaging agents to more patients.
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