The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) announced on October 17 that the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) succeeded in producing medical isotopes and the isotopes have been supplied to the King Abdullah University Hospital.
The construction of the JRTR was completed last year after 82 months of efforts. The Jordanian government invested US$160 million in the project led by the KAERI and Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which were fully in charge of every step ranging from design to construction and test run.
The medical isotopes the KAERI and the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) recently produced at the JRTR are an iodine-131 capsule and an iodine-131 solution for thyroid cancer diagnosis and treatment and a technetium-99m solution for patients with incurable diseases.
The production and supply of the medical isotopes are expected to start in earnest once the approval for the operation of the reactor is given late this month.