Radioprotection / transport issues

The medical use of open radioactive sources (radioactive material) for diagnosis and therapy has traditionally relied heavily on transport of the radionuclide and/or the relevant radioactive compound from the point of production (typically reactors or accelerators) to the point of use (typically departments of nuclear medicine in major hospitals). The recent spread of PET imaging procedures has given some hospitals local production capacity for some diagnostic radionuclides but also expanded the need for transportation, when small hospitals with cyclotrons must supply other hospitals, typically on a daily basis. Nuclides for SPECT imaging and nuclides for therapy are still almost universally needing transportation to the user.

Such necessary transport is complicated by two facts: the radioactivity is characterized as dangerous goods, requiring special packages, carriers and documentation. The inherent physical decay of the radioactivity restricts the time available for transport. Over decades, a specialized transportation system has been developed by the radionuclide and radiopharmaceutical industry, but it has proven difficult for the specialized producers of the novel radionuclides to utilize such distribution channels effectively.

This portal contains documents summarizing the major hurdles associated with the transport of medical radionuclides, while analyzing possibilities alternatives to overcome such hurdles.