Phoenix (nuclear technology company)

Phoenix Nuclear Labs developed a proprietary gas target neutron generator technology and has designed and built a number of particle accelerator-related technologies. It has the technology to produce 3×10¹¹ neutrons per second with the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction.[12] This can be sustained for a 24-hour period. Their spin-off company, SHINE Medical Technologies[13] plans to open a facility for the mass production of Mo-99, an isotope used for medical care.[14]

Molybdenum decays into technetium-99m, which is used in over 40,000 medical imaging procedures everyday in the US. Over 80% of nuclear medicine procedures rely on molybdenum to detect cancer and diagnose heart disease, among hundreds of other procedures utilizing this isotope.[15] The U.S. obtains all of its molybdenum (representing about half of global demand) from the aging nuclear reactors outside of the U.S. However, many of these reactors are scheduled to be shut down and they furthermore utilize highly enriched uranium (HEU), which the US considers a nuclear weapons proliferation threat.[16] To avoid the security concern of HEU, the accelerator-driven, low-enriched uranium (LEU) solution becomes the target for high-efficiency isotope production.[17] The neutrons generated by the PNL neutron generator drive fission in a subcritical LEU solution. The LEU solution is irradiated for approximately a week and medical isotopes are then extracted from the solution, purified using established techniques and packaged for sale. The LEU solution is then recycled, achieving extremely efficient use of uranium and producing much less waste than current molybdenum production methods.

The company's neutron generators have been demonstrated to achieve over 1,000 hours of operation. The process produces medical isotopes that fit into existing supply chains while eliminating the use of weapons-grade uranium and reliance on aging nuclear reactors.[15] For example, the Canadian National Research Universal reactor (NRU) in Chalk River, Ontario currently produces these medical isotopes. In 2006, it produced two-thirds of the world's technetium-99m.[18] A 2009 shutdown of the NRU threatened to delay medical tests for cancer patients.[19] Prior to the 2009 shutdown the NRU produced nearly half of the world's supply of medical isotopes.[20]