ITM Medical Isotopes GmbH, a subsidiary of the biotechnology and radiopharmaceutical group of companies ITM Isotopen Technologien Munchen AG (ITM), Bruce Power, an electricity company, and IsoGen, a joint venture between the two nuclear energy companies Framatome and Kinectrics, announced today that Bruce Power and IsoGen have set the first critical milestone for a reliable and consistent irradiation service which will be provided to ITM exclusively for 15 years. Thereby a dedicated mock-up of the isotope production system was developed for validation, testing and training, in 2020.

The medical radioisotope Lutetium-177 ( 177 Lu) will be obtained by irradiating Ytterbium-176 at the Bruce Power Reactors, as contractually stipulated in an exclusive agreement between Bruce Power, IsoGen and ITM Medical Isotopes GmbH. Bruce Power Reactors are uniquely positioned to fulfill the necessary requirements to reach ITM’s high standards, which are validated in a successful feasibility study in September last year. The construction of the isotope production system at Bruce Power by IsoGen is currently planned to start in January 2021, once the mock-up has been fully tested. The mock-up is currently in the final phase of engineering, evaluation, and design and will allow for validation and training before deploying the isotope production system to Bruce Power’s units.