Country operates three commercial Candu reactor units
French nuclear energy group Framatome and Argentina’s state-run Nucleoelectrica have signed an agreement to conduct a pre-feasibility study for producing Lutetium-177, a medical isotope critical in cancer treatment, at Argentina’s nuclear power plants.
The study, expected to take a year, will proceed in two phases to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of isotope production, Framatome said in a statement.
Nucleoelectrica operates Argentina’s fleet of three nuclear reactor units at two sites – Atucha-1 and -2, and Embalse – all of the Candu heavy water reactor design.
The collaboration underscores Argentina’s push to expand its nuclear capabilities beyond power generation.
Argentina’s nuclear industry already has a strong track record in isotope production, said Framatome. The Embalse nuclear plant has been producing Cobalt-60, widely used in medicine and industry, for decades.
“This agreement reaffirms our commitment to leveraging the country’s nuclear capabilities,” said Alberto Lamagna, president of Nucleoelectrica. “We aim to go beyond electricity generation by developing applications that add value to the nuclear industry’s production chain.”
Framatome’s technology for producing Lutetium-177 is already operational at a Candu reactor in Canada at the Bruce nuclear station, with another project underway in Romania at Cernavoda.
Lutetium-177 is a radioactive isotope widely used in targeted radiotherapy for treating certain cancers, such as neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer, by delivering precise radiation doses directly to cancer cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.
