Manufacturing Molybdenum-99 for medicine at TUM's Research Neutron Source

Worldwide, more than 30 million medical examinations are conducted annually with the radioactive substance Technetium-99m. Germany is Europe's biggest consumer. For manufacturing Technetium-99m, Molybdenum-99 is required at first. However, this can be produced internationally in only a few research reactors, and this has caused shortages for many years.

That is why the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz of the Technical University of Munich is currently being upgraded to supply half of the European need of this important diagnostic tool for cardiac and thyroid function or cancer. The film presents the state of the project and the technical challenges, the manufacturing process of Technetium-99m and its application in medicine.
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Learn more about the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II): https://www.frm2.tum.de/en