Sandia News

Tech Transfer

DICK COATS, right, Eden Radioisotopes’s chief technology officer and a retired Sandian, talks science with nuclear engineer John Ford (1381) at the Annular Core Research Reactor, where they helped develop a molybdenum- 99 reactor concept in the 1990s. Eden recently licensed the technology with the goal of producing a US supply of moly 99 for use in nuclear medicine. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
DICK COATS, right, Eden Radioisotopes’s chief technology officer and a retired Sandian, talks science with nuclear engineer John Ford (1381) at the Annular Core Research Reactor, where they helped develop a molybdenum- 99 reactor concept in the 1990s. Eden recently licensed the technology with the goal of producing a US supply of moly 99 for use in nuclear medicine. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

Eden Radioisotopes, an Albuquerque startup company, has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Sandia to use Sandia technology to solve the world’s medical radioisotope shortage crisis. Mo-99 is a key isotope whose daughter product, Tc-99, is used almost exclusively in nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging. With a half-life of 66 hours, Mo-99 must be continuously made to meet the world demand. Sandia holds a patent pending on a new nuclear reactor concept that allows for Mo-99 to be made economically, safely, and reliably. (1300) IHNS [RGND]

Sandia materials researchers Roger Rasberry and Garth Rohr helped Apache Fire Industries, a New Mexico small business, resolve issues related to developing the Fire Ant, a device designed to help save firefighters’ lives by illuminating a path out of smoke filled environments. The Fire Ant is a hose-coupler with LEDs that activate upon impact as a fire hose is deployed. Colored LEDs assist firefighters understand their location in the hazardous environment. Fire Ant is being tested by the Chicago Fire Department. (1800) [LDI]