II 

Calendar No. 263 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3276 

[Report No. 111–120] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

JANUARY 28, 2010 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To promote the production of molybdenum-99 in the United 

States for medical isotope production, and to condition 

and phase out the export of highly enriched uranium 

for the production of medical isotopes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Medical Iso5 topes Production Act of 20092010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Molybdenum-99 is a critical medical isotope 

4 whose decay product technecium-99m is used in ap5 proximately two-thirds of all diagnostic medical iso6 tope procedures in the United States, or 16 million 

7 medical procedures annually, including for the detec8 tion of cancer, heart disease, and thyroid disease, in9 vestigating the operation of the brain and kidney, 

10 imaging stress fractures, and tracking cancer stages. 

11 (2) Molybdenum-99 has a half-life of 66 hours, 

12 and decays at a rate of approximately one percent 

13 per hour after production. As such, molybdenum-99 

14 cannot be stockpiled. Instead, molybdenum-99 pro15 duction must be scheduled to meet the projected de16 mand and any interruption of the supply chain from 

17 production, to processing, packaging, distribution, 

18 and use can disrupt patient care. 

19 (3) There are no facilities within the United 

20 States that are dedicated to the production of mo21 lybdenum-99 for medical uses. The United States 

22 must import molybdenum-99 from foreign produc23 tion facilities, and is dependent upon the continued 

24 operation of these foreign facilities for millions of 

25 critical medical procedures annually. 


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1 (4) Most reactors in the world which produce 

2 molybdenum-99 utilize highly enriched uranium, 

3 which can also be used in the construction of nuclear 

4 weapons. In January 2009, the National Academy of 

5 Sciences encouraged molybdenum-99 producers to 

6 convert from highly enriched uranium to low en7 riched uranium, and found that there are ‘‘no tech8 nical reasons that adequate quantities cannot be 

9 produced from LEU targets in the future’’ and that 

10 ‘‘a 7-10 year phase-out period would likely allow 

11 enough time for all current HEU-based producers to 

12 convert’’. 

13 (5) The 51-year-old National Research Uni14 versal reactor in Canada, which is responsible for 

15 producing approximately sixty percent of United 

16 States demand for molybdenum-99 under normal 

17 conditions, was shut down unexpectedly May 14, 

18 2009, after the discovery of a leak of radioactive 

19 water. It is unclear whether the National Research 

20 Universal reactor will be able to resume production 

21 of molybdenum-99. 

22 (6) The United States currently faces an acute 

23 shortage of molybdenum-99 and its decay product 

24 technetium-99m due to technical problems which 


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1 have seriously interrupted operations of foreign nu2 clear reactors producing molybdenum-99. 

3 (7) As a result of the critical shortage of molyb4 denum-99, patient care in the United States is suf5 fering. Medical procedures requiring technetium-99 

6 are being rationed or delayed, and alternative treat7 ments which are less effective, more costly, and may 

8 result in increased radiation doses to patients are 

9 being substituted in lieu of technetium-99. 

10 (8) The radioactive isotope molybdenum-99 and 

11 its decay product technetium-99m are critical to the 

12 health care of Americans, and the continued avail13 ability of these isotopes, in a reliable and affordable 

14 manner, is in the interest of the United States. 

15 (9) The United States should move expedi16 tiously to ensure that an adequate and reliable sup17 ply of molybdenum-99 can be produced in the 

18 United States, without the use of highly enriched 

19 uranium. 

20 (10) Other important medical isotopes, includ21 ing iodine-131 and xenon-133, can be produced as 

22 byproducts of the molybdenum-99 fission production 

23 process. In January 2009, the National Academy of 

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1 able’’. The coproduction of medically useful isotopes 

2 such as iodine-131 and xenon-133 is an important 

3 benefit of establishing molybdenum-99 production in 

4 the United States without the use of highly enriched 

5 uranium, and these coproduced isotopes should also 

6 be available for necessary medical uses. 

7 (11) The United States should accelerate its ef8 forts to convert nuclear reactors worldwide away 

9 from the use of highly enriched uranium, which can 

10 be used in nuclear weapons, to low enriched ura11 nium. Converting nuclear reactors away from the 

12 use of highly enriched uranium is a critically impor13 tant element of United States efforts to prevent nu14 clear terrorism, and supports the goal announced in 

15 Prague by President Barack Obama on April 5, 

16 2009, to create ‘‘a new international effort to secure 

17 all vulnerable nuclear material around the world 

18 within four years’’. 

19 (12) The United States is engaged in an effort 

20 to convert civilian nuclear test and research reactors 

21 from highly enriched uranium fuel to low enriched 

22 uranium fuel through the Global Threat Reduction 

23 Initiative. As of September 2009, this program has 

24 successfully converted 17 reactors in the United 

25 States to low enriched uranium fuel, some of which 


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1 are capable of producing molybdenum-99 for medical 

2 uses. 

3 SEC. 3.2. IMPROVING THE RELIABILITY OF DOMESTIC MED4 ICAL ISOTOPE SUPPLY. 

5 (a) MEDICAL ISOTOPE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

7 shall establish a program to evaluate and support 

8 projects for the production in the United States, 

9 without the use of highly enriched uranium, of sig10 nificant quantities of molybdenum-99 for medical 

11 uses. shall establish a technology-neutral program— 

12 (A) to evaluate and support projects for the 

13 production in the United States, without the use 

14 of highly enriched uranium, of significant quan15 tities of molybdenum-99 for medical uses; 

16 (B) to be carried out in cooperation with 

17 non-Federal entities; and 

18 (C) the costs of which shall be shared in ac19 cordance with section 988 of the Energy Policy 

20 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352). 

21 (2) CRITERIA.—Projects shall be judged against 

22 the following primary criteria: 

23 (A) The length of time necessary for the 

24 proposed project to begin production of molybVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:46 Jan 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3276.RS H3276

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1 denum-99 for medical uses within the United 

2 States. 

3 (B) The capability of the proposed project 

4 to produce a significant percentage of United 

5 States demand for molybdenum-99 for medical 

6 uses. 

7 (C) The cost of the proposed project. 

8 (3) EXEMPTION.—An existing reactor fueled 

9 with highly enriched uranium shall not be disquali10 fied from the program if the Secretary of Energy de11 termines that— 

12 (A) there is no alternative nuclear reactor 

13 fuel, enriched in the isotope U-235 to less than 

14 20 percent, that can be used in that reactor; 

15 (B) the reactor operator has provided as16 surances that, whenever an alternative nuclear 

17 reactor fuel, enriched in the isotope U-235 to 

18 less than 20 percent, can be used in that reac19 tor, it will use that alternative in lieu of highly 

20 enriched uranium; and 

21 (C) the reactor operator has provided a 

22 current report on the status of its efforts to 

23 convert the reactor to an alternative nuclear re24 actor fuel enriched in the isotope U-235 to less 


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1 than 20 percent, and an anticipated schedule 

2 for completion of conversion. 

3 (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND REVIEW.—The 

4 Secretary of Energy shall— 

5 (A) develop a program plan and annually 

6 update the program plan through public work7 shops; and 

8 (B) use the Nuclear Science Advisory Com9 mittee to conduct annual reviews of the progress 

10 made in achieving the program goals. 

11 (4)(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec13 retary of Energy for carrying out the program under 

14 paragraph (1) $163,000,000 for the period encom15 passing fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 

16 (b) DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

17 Energy shall establish a program to provide assistance 

18 for— 

19 (1) the development of fuels, targets, and proc20 esses for domestic molybdenum-99 production that 

21 do not use highly enriched uranium; and 

22 (2) commercial operations using the fuels, tar23 gets, and processes described in paragraph (1). 

24 (c) URANIUM LEASE AND TAKE BACK.—The Sec25 retary of Energy shall establish a program to make low 


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1 enriched uranium available, through lease contracts, for 

2 irradiation for the production of molybdenum-99 for med3 ical uses. The lease contracts shall provide for the Sec4 retary to retain responsibility for the final disposition of 

5 radioactive waste created by the irradiation, processing, 

6 or purification of leased uranium. The lease contracts 

7 shall also provide for compensation in cash amounts equiv8 alent to prevailing market rates for the sale of comparable 

9 uranium products and for compensation in cash amounts 

10 equivalent to the net present value of the cost to the Fed11 eral Government for the final disposition of such radio12 active waste, provided that the discount rate used to deter13 mine the net present value of such costs shall be no great14 er than the average interest rate on marketable Treasury 

15 securities. The Secretary shall not barter or otherwise sell 

16 or transfer uranium in any form in exchange for services 

17 related to final disposition of the radioactive waste from 

18 such leased uranium. 

19 SEC. 4.3. EXPORTS. 

20 Section 134 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

21 U.S.C. 2160d(b)2160d) is amended by striking subsections 

22 b. and c. and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 

23 ‘‘b. Effective 7 years after the date of enactment of 

24 the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 

25 20092010, the Commission may not issue a license for the 


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1 export of highly enriched uranium from the United States 

2 for the purposes of medical isotope production. 

3 ‘‘c. The period referred to in subsection b. may be 

4 extended for no more than four 6 years if, no earlier than 

5 6 years after the date of enactment of the American Med6 ical Isotopes Production Act of 20092010, the Secretary 

7 of Energy certifies to the Committee on Energy and Com8 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

9 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate that— 

10 ‘‘(1) there is insufficient global supply of molyb11 denum-99 produced without the use of highly en12 riched uranium available to satisfy the domestic 

13 United States market; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the export of United States-origin highly 

15 enriched uranium for the purposes of medical iso16 tope production is the most effective temporary 

17 means to increase the supply of molybdenum-99 to 

18 the domestic United States market. 

19 ‘‘d. To ensure public review and comment, the develop20 ment of the certification described in subsection c. shall be 

21 carried out through announcement in the Federal Register. 

22 ‘‘d.e. At any time after the restriction of export li23 censes provided for in subsection b. becomes effective, if 

24 there is a critical shortage in the supply of molybdenum25 99 available to satisfy the domestic United States medical 


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1 isotope needs, the restriction of export licenses may be 

2 suspended for a period of no more than 12 months, if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Energy certifies to the 

4 Congress that the export of United States-origin 

5 highly enriched uranium for the purposes of medical 

6 isotope production is the only effective temporary 

7 means to increase the supply of molybdenum-99 nec8 essary to meet United States medical isotope needs 

9 during that period; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the Congress passesenacts a Joint Resolu11 tion approving the temporary suspension of the re12 striction of export licenses. 

13 ‘‘e.f. As used in this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘alternative nuclear reactor fuel 

15 or target’ means a nuclear reactor fuel or target 

16 which is enriched to less than 20 percent in the iso17 tope U-235; 

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘highly enriched uranium’ means 

19 uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the iso20 tope U-235; 

21 ‘‘(3) a fuel or target ‘can be used’ in a nuclear 

22 research or test reactor if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the fuel or target has been qualified 

24 by the Reduced Enrichment Research and Test 


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1 Reactor Program of the Department of Energy; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) use of the fuel or target will permit 

4 the large majority of ongoing and planned ex5 periments and isotope production to be con6 ducted in the reactor without a large percentage 

7 increase in the total cost of operating the reac8 tor; and 

9 ‘‘(4) the term ‘medical isotope’ includes molyb10 denum-99, iodine-131, xenon-133, and other radio11 active materials used to produce a radiopharma12 ceutical for diagnostic, therapeutic procedures or for 

13 research and development.’’. 

14 SEC. 5.4. REPORT ON DISPOSITION OF EXPORTS. 

15 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Com17 mission, after consulting with other relevant agencies, 

18 shall submit to the Congress a report detailing the current 

19 disposition of previous United States exports of highly en20 riched uranium, including— 

21 (1) their location; 

22 (2) whether they are irradiated; 

23 (3) whether they have been used for the pur24 pose stated in their export license; 


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1 (4) whether they have been used for an alter2 native purpose and, if so, whether such alternative 

3 purpose has been explicitly approved by the Commis4 sion; 

5 (5) the year of export, and reimportation, if ap6 plicable; 

7 (6) their current physical and chemical forms; 

8 and 

9 (7) whether they are being stored in a manner 

10 which adequately protects against theft and unau11 thorized access. 

12 SEC. 6.5. DOMESTIC MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 10 of the Atomic Energy 

14 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by add15 ing at the end the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 112. DOMESTIC MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUC17 TION. a. The Commission may issue a license, or grant 

18 an amendment to an existing license, for the use in the 

19 United States of highly enriched uranium as a target for 

20 medical isotope production in a nuclear reactor, only if, 

21 in addition to any other requirement of this Act— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Commission determines that— 

23 ‘‘(A) there is no alternative medical isotope 

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1 235 to less than 20 percent, that can be used 

2 in that reactor; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the proposed recipient of the medical 

4 isotope production target has provided assur5 ances that, whenever an alternative medical iso6 tope production target can be used in that reac7 tor, it will use that alternative in lieu of highly 

8 enriched uranium; and 

9 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Energy has certified that 

10 the United States Government is actively supporting 

11 the development of an alternative medical isotope 

12 production target that can be used in that reactor. 

13 ‘‘b. As used in this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘alternative medical isotope pro15 duction target’ means a nuclear reactor target which 

16 is enriched to less than 20 percent of the isotope U17 235; 

18 ‘‘(2) a target ‘can be used’ in a nuclear re19 search or test reactor if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the target has been qualified by the 

21 Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reac22 tor Program of the Department of Energy; and 

23 ‘‘(B) use of the target will permit the large 

24 majority of ongoing and planned experiments 

25 and isotope production to be conducted in the 


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1 reactor without a large percentage increase in 

2 the total cost of operating the reactor; 

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘highly enriched uranium’ means 

4 uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the iso5 tope U-235; and 

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘medical isotope’ includes molyb7 denum-99, iodine-131, xenon-133, and other radio8 active materials used to produce a radiopharma9 ceutical for diagnostic, therapeutic procedures or for 

10 research and development.’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

12 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended by inserting 

13 the following new item after the item relating to section 

14 111: at the end of the items relating to chapter 10 of title 

15 I: 

‘‘Sec. 112. Domestic medical isotope production.’’. 

16 SEC. 7.6. ANNUAL DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTS. 

17 The Secretary of Energy shall report to Congress no 

18 later than one year after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, on Department 

20 of Energy actions to support the production in the United 

21 States, without the use of highly enriched uranium, of mo22 lybdenum-99 for medical uses. These reports shall include 

23 the following: 

24 (1) For medical isotope development projects— 


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1 (A) the names of any recipients of Depart2 ment of Energy support under section 3 section 

3 2 of this Act; 

4 (B) the amount of Department of Energy 

5 funding committed to each project; 

6 (C) the milestones expected to be reached 

7 for each project during the year for which sup8 port is provided; 

9 (D) how each project is expected to sup10 port the increased production of molybdenum11 99 for medical uses; 

12 (E) the findings of the evaluation of 

13 projects under section 3(a)(2) 2(a)(2) of this 

14 Act; and 

15 (F) the ultimate use of any Department of 

16 Energy funds used to support projects under 

17 section 3 section 2 of this Act. 

18 (2) A description of actions taken in the pre19 vious year by the Secretary of Energy to ensure the 

20 safe disposition of radioactive waste from used mo21 lybdenum-99 targets. 

22 SEC. 8.7. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT. 

23 The Secretary of Energy shall enter into an arrange24 ment with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct 

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1 lization, to be provided to the Congress not later than 5 

2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. This report 

3 shall include the following: 

4 (1) For molybdenum-99 production— 

5 (A) a list of all facilities in the world pro6 ducing molybdenum-99 for medical uses, includ7 ing an indication of whether these facilities use 

8 highly enriched uranium in any way; 

9 (B) a review of international production of 

10 molybdenum-99 over the previous 5 years, in11 cluding— 

12 (i) whether any new production was 

13 brought online; 

14 (ii) whether any facilities halted pro15 duction unexpectedly; and 

16 (iii) whether any facilities used for 

17 production were decommissioned or other18 wise permanently removed from service; 

19 and 

20 (C) an assessment of progress made in the 

21 previous 5 years toward establishing domestic 

22 production of molybdenum-99 for medical uses, 

23 including the extent to which other medical iso24 topes coproducedthat have been produced with 


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1 molybdenum-99, such as iodine-131 and xenon2 133, are being used for medical purposes. 

3 (2) An assessment of the progress made by the 

4 Department of Energy and others to eliminate all 

5 worldwide use of highly enriched uranium in reactor 

6 fuel, reactor targets, and medical isotope production 

7 facilities. 

8 SEC. 9.8. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM.—The term 

11 ‘‘highly enriched uranium’’ means uranium enriched 

12 to 20 percent or greater in the isotope U-235. 

13 (2) LOW ENRICHED URANIUM.—The term ‘‘low 

14 enriched uranium’’ means uranium enriched to less 

15 than 20 percent in the isotope U-235. 


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Calendar No. 263 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3276 

[Report No. 111–120] 

AN ACT 

To promote the production of molybdenum-99 in 

medical isotopes. highly enriched uranium for the production of and to condition and phase out the export of the United States for medical isotope production, 

JANUARY 28, 2010 

Reported with amendments 


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