Considerations and the IAEA’s Contributions

The serendipitous discovery of Tc generator at the BNL, USA in 1957 laid the foundation for the subsequent revolution of in vivo imaging of physiological functions in humans to aid diagnostic decisions and patient management. The widespread use of diagnostic imaging in nuclear medicine would not have attained a pre-eminent status world over but for the Tc generator and Tc labelled products. In order to sustain the nearly 20 million studies annually performed using Tc, it is of utmost importance to assure access to appropriate technologies for continued, reliable availability of Tc generators and in turn, that of the raw material radionuclide Mo required in extremely large quantities. A walk down the path of their production technologies to trace the trends and issues reveals several major milestones. The IAEA has been involved for well over three decades in fostering developments in Tc generator systems through (i) implementation of a number of CRPs including an on-going one related to the production of Mo using LEU targets, (ii) arranging expert reviews through Technical/Consultancy Meetings and (iii) publication of various technical documents, e.g. IAEATECDOC: 515 (1989), 852, (1995), 1051 (1998) and 1065 (1999). The IAEA has also supported a number of interested Member States in establishing and/or operating Tc generator production facilities, as for example in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Syria. The author has been involved in several of the above initiatives of the IAEA and was also an active participant in the Indian programmes on Tc generators during 1972 to 2003. The present review is accordingly tailored as a narration, interspersed with the IAEA’s important contributions and glimpses of the Indian scenario.