Phoenix Neutron Generator Completes Milestone Validating Output and Reliability
June 19th, 2019 – Janesville, WI – SHINE Medical Technologies, a Janesville, WI medical isotope production company, announced the completion of an important milestone validating the SHINE medical isotope production process and business case.
SHINE is dedicated to becoming the world leader in production of molybdenum-99, the most widely-used radioactive isotope in medical imaging. Currently, the only major producers of this isotope are government-owned nuclear research reactors, which create the isotopes by exposing uranium to neutron radiation. SHINE will displace the use of reactors and weapons-grade uranium by using a low-enriched uranium process driven by the Phoenix neutron generator. The weekly SHINE production cycle will require these particle accelerator systems to operate for 132 consecutive hours, or 5.5 days, with better than 95 percent uptime.
SHINE and Phoenix tested the first production-ready accelerator in SHINE’s Janesville facility over the course of 5.5 days to determine percentage uptime and total neutron output. The average system neutron yield was measured to be 110 percent of the required output, with greater than 99 percent uptime. A third-party expert witness confirmed the results.
“These results represent over a decade of joint development effort between SHINE and Phoenix, moving from proof of concept, to proof of scale, and now to a unit that can produce millions of doses of medicine per year when paired with SHINE’s proprietary isotope production system,” said SHINE founder and CEO, Greg Piefer. “We proved, with an independent reviewer onsite, that the system can not only meet but exceed our business requirements, moving SHINE one step closer to turning bombs into medicine.”
“These results prove Phoenix’s core technology is more than capable of reliably driving SHINE’s medical isotope production and serves as a major technology risk mitigation step for both companies,” said Ross Radel, CEO of Phoenix. “The increased neutron yield and minimal down time demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of Phoenix’s capabilities, strengthens our position as producers of the most powerful non-reactor commercial neutron generators in the world and validates SHINE’s business model to become the world leader in the production of molybdenum-99.”
Early last month, SHINE broke ground on their North American production facility located in Janesville, WI. At full capacity, the SHINE facility will use a total of eight Phoenix neutron generators producing enough Mo-99 to help improve the lives of one billion people over the course of the next 50 years.
From left to right: Matt Kozak; Charlie Shackett; Carol Engebretson; John Kavouras; Dan Martin; Craig Jacobson (Phoenix); Jacob Slowey; Marion Titze; Jonathan Seyfert (Phoenix); Brad Wallom; Andy Gaba (Phoenix); Rich Sisson. Not pictured: Tom Drury; Arne Kobernik (Phoenix).
About SHINE
Founded in 2010, SHINE is a development-stage company working toward becoming a manufacturer of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. The SHINE system uses a patented, proprietary manufacturing process that offers major advantages over existing and proposed production technologies, as it does not require a nuclear reactor, uses less electricity, generates less waste and is compatible with the nation’s existing supply chain for molybdenum-99. Learn more at https://shinemed.com
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