The production of the radioactive isotope of molybdenum-99, on which the development of nuclear medicine largely depends, was opened at the Research Institute of Atomic Science and Technology of Iran.
The national project for the production of the molybdenum-99 radioactive isotope, which will be used in nuclear medicine, was signed at a ceremony with the participation of Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Soren Sattari.
Almost 70% of all work in nuclear medicine depends on the supply of molybdenum-99, the radionuclide used to produce the technetium-99m (Tc-99m) generators, the main diagnostic radionuclide in modern nuclear medicine. With the help of TC-99m, a large number of human diseases are diagnosed, primarily oncological and cardiovascular. The number of such diagnostic procedures in the world exceeds 25 million per year.