Isotek Systems, TerraPower, Cardinal Health, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today celebrated a project underway that is helping enable revolutionary new cancer treatments.
Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management
April 11, 2023
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Oak Ridge, Tenn. – April 11, 2023 – Isotek Systems, TerraPower, Cardinal Health™ Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today celebrated a project underway that is helping enable revolutionary new cancer treatments.
Current operations with DOE and its contractor Isotek are eliminating an inventory of legacy nuclear material and providing rare radioisotopes to the medical industry. Through this project, 75-100 times more doses of next generation cancer treatments will be available annually than are currently available worldwide.
“No One Fights Alone” embodies the partnership between the medical research community, federal government, and private companies to make this advancement to cancer research possible. The program’s name serves as a reminder to those battling cancer that an entire community is fighting alongside them.
Isotek Systems (subsidiary of Atkins Nuclear Secured), TerraPower, and DOE entered into a public-private partnership in 2018. Through this partnership, Isotek is extracting rare medical isotopes, thorium-229, for TerraPower Isotopes, a subsidiary of TerraPower, to advance the next generations of isotopes to support promising cancer treatment research. This event marks the next phase of this effort, which is providing significantly larger quantities of medical isotopes to aid research and eliminating an inventory of 1950’s era nuclear material stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In 2021, TerraPower signed a collaboration agreement with Cardinal Health NPHS to produce and distribute TerraPower’s actinium-225 product, which is generated using the thorium-229 extracted in Oak Ridge. Actinium-225 will be used in drug trials involving targeted alpha therapy for diseases such as breast, prostate, colon, and neuroendocrine cancers, melanoma, and lymphoma.
“Applications of nuclear science are necessary to solve some of the world’s most daunting problems, and TerraPower is committed to using innovative nuclear technologies to combat challenges like climate change and cancer. Our TerraPower Isotopes team is taking legacy nuclear materials and extracting isotopes that have the potential to save lives,” said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque. “This project is an example of public-private partnerships at their best, with everyone working towards a common goal across business operations.”
“We are proud of our team and this hugely beneficial partnership at Oak Ridge,” EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Avery said. “This event demonstrates what is possible when we have a shared vision, mutual goals, and the support of the community, Congress, and others."
“This partnership is a success for all involved,” said Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. “Through Isotek’s innovative approach, we are able to accelerate one of our highest priority projects, spend less taxpayer dollars to complete the project, and provide material that will greatly benefit the public in the future.”
Atkins Nuclear Secured President Jim Rugg added, “Thanks to DOE’s vision and TerraPower’s investment to cover costs associated with the extraction of selected medical isotopes, the lives of many families will be changed for the better. This partnership has created an inspiring mission for our workforce, and we are honored to be assisting the Department of Energy with this historic achievement.”
“We are proud to support this project through our collaboration agreement with TerraPower in producing and distributing actinium-225,” said Mike Pintek, President of Cardinal Health™ Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions, which develops, manufactures, prepares, dispenses and delivers radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine. “TerraPower’s nuclear expertise, coupled with Cardinal Health’s comprehensive end-to-end solutions, will significantly improve pharmaceutical manufacturer access to actinium-225.”
Highlights of the public-private partnership:
- Significantly increases the number of cancer treatment doses available annually: This project provides the capacity to produce 500,000 cancer treatment doses per year. Currently, there are only 4,000 doses of these lifesaving therapies, known as targeted alpha therapy, available world-wide.
- Beneficially reuses a portion of the Uranium-233 before it is removed: Under the current partnership, Isotek extracts the Thorium-229 from the Uranium-233 and sends it to TerraPower’s laboratory in Everett, Washington. TerraPower Isotopes then processes the Thorium-229 to create Actinium-225, the medical isotope used to develop drugs that can fight cancer.
- Saved taxpayer dollars and accelerated one of DOE’s highest priority cleanup projects: Isotek reinvested funds it received from TerraPower into the project, helping accelerate the project and begin processing Uranium-233 sooner. Isotek purchased gloveboxes that allowed workers to begin processing canisters with lower levels of radiation. That approach enabled the extraction and delivery of rare isotopes quicker. This processing campaign, known as the Thorium Express Project, ran from 2019 – 2021 and received a Secretary of Energy Achievement Award in 2021 for its innovation and cost-saving.
About Isotek/Atkins/SNC-Lavalin
Isotek Systems, LLC is a DOE contractor under Atkins Nuclear Secured and has been responsible for safely and securely overseeing the inventory of U-233 and preparing its removal from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Atkins Nuclear Secured Holdings Corporation is a business unit within SNC-Lavalin’s global nuclear sector focused on the U.S. federal market. Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. snclavalin.com
About TerraPower Isotopes
TerraPower Isotopes (TPI) is transforming the fight against cancer by advancing the next generation of isotopes. The TPI team is utilizing proven methods to extract research grade, Actinium-225, free of the isotopic impurities of Actinium, which may be applied to new medical applications that potentially target and treat cancer. TPI is increasing the scarce global supply of Actinium-225, allowing more drug trials to explore the effectiveness of this isotope. Commercial production is slated to begin in 2023. TPI is a subsidiary of TerraPower. TerraPower is a leading nuclear innovation company that strives to improve the world through nuclear energy and science. terrapower.com/
About Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions
Cardinal Health™ Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions develops, manufactures, prepares, dispenses and delivers over 12 million time-critical, patient-specific radiopharmaceutical doses annually via a U.S. network of more than 130 nuclear pharmacies and more than 30 PET sites and other manufacturing facilities. cardinalhealth.com
About DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management
DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is responsible for removing environmental legacies resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park. Its projects are protecting the region’s health and environment, enabling DOE’s ongoing research and national security missions, and making clean land available for future use. energy.gov/orem