Researchers at a nuclear power station in China have started mass production of carbon-14, which they claim makes them the first in the world to generate the radioactive isotope from a commercial reactor, according to state media.

Mass output of carbon-14 started at the Qinshan nuclear power station in Zhejiang province, southeastern China, last week, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

“It is the first time in the country or even in the world that carbon-14 has been produced from a commercial nuclear reactor,” Qinshan nuclear station chairman Huang Qian said in the CCTV report.

“We have discovered a new pathway in the manufacture of medical isotopes from commercial nuclear reactors.”