The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) welcomes independent community consultation about its proposed upgrade of Australia’s nuclear medicine manufacturing production capability.
The plans would create 250 new jobs (150 construction and 100 operational jobs) in addition to the approximately 1400 jobs already directly supported by ANSTO.
Under the plans, Australia will go from producing 550,000 doses of medicine at the Lucas Heights reactor – to making enough potentially lifesaving medicine to help millions of people a year in Australia and around the world. Two pieces of infrastructure would be built to achieve this:
- A new nuclear medicine manufacturing plant, which will secure Australia’s ability to produce Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used for diagnosis of heart disease and cancers; and
- A Synroc waste treatment plant, which will deliver a more permanent, safe and economical way of managing by-products from manufacture of nuclear medicines.
An independent public consultation process is being managed by The Australian Parliament’s Public Works Committee, which will accept submissions until 24 January 2013 and is due to hold public hearings in February 2013.
As announced in September, global supplies of nuclear medicine are under threat, with reactors responsible for 70 per cent of the world’s Mo-99 production due to be decommissioned in the next few years. The plans out for public consultation would enable Australia to help address the crisis.
“Our plans to increase our production of nuclear medicine have been welcomed around the world, and it’s appropriate that they are subject to independent scrutiny and public consultation,” said Dr Greg Storr, who is ANSTO’s General Manager of Nuclear Operations and a local resident.
For more information about the proposal, go to www.ansto.gov.au. For details on how to make a submission and public hearing times, go to www.aph.gov.au/pwc
KEY FACTS
The plan will be delivered by scientists and engineers working at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) campus at Lucas Heights. It comprises:
- A nuclear medicine manufacturing plant, which will secure Australia’s ability to produce Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). Mo-99 is primarily used for diagnosis of heart disease and cancers. Applications include for bone oncology, neurology, the kidney and gastrointestinal tract disorders. In Australia alone, each year 550,000 people receive a diagnosis using Mo-99.
- A co-located Synroc waste treatment plant, which will deliver a permanent, safe and economical way of managing by-products from current and future manufacture of nuclear medicines. Synroc is an Australian innovation that can substantially reduce the pre-storage volume of nuclear medicine by-products when compared to other methods such as cementation. Synroc offers similar benefits for other forms of waste, achieving significant reductions in volume.
- The creation of 250 new jobs (150 construction and 100 operational jobs) – which is in addition to the approximately 1400 jobs already directly supported at ANSTO.
Published: 04/12/2012