Medical Isotope Production Facility
Project Highlights
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission compliant, safety-related production facility.
- 55,000-square-foot structure designed for safe-shutdown earthquake, tornado, and aircraft impact.
- First-of-a-kind facility will use diluted uranium formerly used in nuclear weapons to produce life-saving medical isotopes.
Project Description
Sargent & Lundy worked with SHINE on the design and licensure of a new medical isotope production facility. This first-of-a-kind facility utilizes neutron accelerators to turn low-enriched uranium, created by diluting former nuclear weapons, into medical isotopes such as molybdenum-99. Moly-99 is the essential component in medical imaging procedures used to diagnose conditions such as heart disease, bone disease and cancer.
Project Scope
Starting in 2011, SHINE contracted Sargent & Lundy to perform a variety of services, including:
- NRC licensing support.
- Nuclear and environmental calculations.
- Conceptual balance-of-plant system layout and design.
- Detailed structural and architectural design.
Early support from Sargent & Lundy helped SHINE establish its facility layout, further its nuclear process design, and secure financial investments necessary to fund construction.
In 2018, SHINE partnered with Sargent & Lundy to perform the detailed structural and architectural design of the safety-related production facility and associated administrative building. Detailed design of the main structural and architectural systems was substantially completed in early 2019. By meeting this deadline, Sargent & Lundy supported SHINE’s Final Safety Analysis Report submittal to the NRC in July 2019, followed by the start of safety-related construction in November 2019.
Sargent & Lundy supported SHINE with:
- NRC licensing activities.
- Detailed design of ancillary structural systems and components.
- Construction support activities (both on-site and remote).
- Drawing development for an extensive system of embedded conduits.
- Design of pipe, electrical raceway, and HVAC supports.
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