More than half of the world's annual production of radionuclides is used for medical purposes such as diagnostic imaging of diseases and patient therapy. Using aqueous homogeneous solution reactor technology, production quantities of medical radioisotopes Mo-99 and Sr-89, can be extracted from one reactor cycle. Mo-99 may be produced directly from UO2SO4 uranyl sulfate in an aqueous homogeneous solution nuclear reactor in a manner that produces high purity radionuclides, making efficient use of the reactor's uranium fuel solution. The process is relatively simple, economical, and waste free, eliminating uranium targets. The short-lived radioisotope Tc-99m is eluted from Mo-99 for diagnostic imaging. Radioisotope Sr-89 infusion is a therapeutic modality that reduces reliance on narcotic analgesia through palliation of metastatic bone pain caused by metastases of the cancer to the bone. Painful disseminated osseous metastases are common with carcinomas of the lung, prostate, and breast. Synergistic interleaving of two manufacturing processes, one producing Mo-99 and another producing Sr-89 in the same production cycle of an aqueous homogeneous solution reactor makes full and efficient use of the time for both the neutron irradiation stage and the extraction stage of each radionuclide. Interleaving the capture of Sr-89 radioisotope with production processing of Mo-99 radioisotope is achieved, since the extraction and subsequent elimination of radionuclide impurities occurs during separate parts of the reactor cycle. The process applies to either HEU or LEU nuclear fuels in an aqueous homogeneous solution reactor.
