Move will help secure supply for years to come, says French nuclear company
French nuclear power company Framatome has inaugurated a new facility dedicated to the fabrication of fuel for research reactors and targets for medical radioisotopes.
The new facility, in Romans-sur-Isère in southern France, is for CERCA, a division of Framatome that manufactures fuel for research reactors, and irradiation targets.
It includes workshops organised around a “uranium zone” where compacted powder is produced to form fuel elements and medical-use targets.
Framatome said it had replaced the existing uranium zone with a new uranium zone with new equipment. The company said this was part of its investment policy and to meet expected growth over the coming years.
“We have leveraged over 65 years of experience to enhance processes in the new facility,” said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice-president of the fuel business unit at Framatome.
Gaiffe said the new facility will ensure the supply of fuel for research reactors and medical-use targets for Framatome’s customers “for decades to come.”
Framatome said CERCA is the leading supplier of fuel to research reactors, supplying almost all European research reactors and a significant share of research reactors across the globe.
More than 20,000 fuel elements have been manufactured by CERCA for research reactors across the globe. 75% of the world’s technetium-99m (Tc-99m) scans are performed using medical radioisotope targets produced by CERCA.
Tc-99m is a widely used medical radioisotope for diagnostic imaging, particularly in nuclear medicine procedures.
Medical radioisotope targets are materials that are bombarded with neutrons or other particles in a reactor or accelerator to produce radioactive isotopes used in medicine.
These isotopes, also known as radiopharmaceuticals, are then used for both diagnosis and treatment of various medical conditions, particularly cancer.
