Medical Isotope Bill Clears Subpanel

On Oct. 14, a subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee passed by voice vote a bill to address concerns related to the supply of molybdenum-99 in the U.S. for medical isotopes. H.R. 3276 would promote domestic production of ⁹⁹Mo, while at the same time phasing out the export of highly enriched uranium for the isotope’s production within seven years. Under the bill, the Department of Energy would be given $163 million to support projects for domestic production of ⁹⁹Mo without highly enriched uranium, which is the starting material now used to generate the isotope. It would also establish a DOE program to make low-enriched uranium available to domestic isotope producers. DOE would also be charged with asking the National Academy of Sciences to do a study on the state of ⁹⁹Mo production and utilization, the report of which must be delivered to Congress within five years.