Radium sources yield cancer-fighting Ac-225 in IAEA program

January 14, 2026, 3:15PMNuclear News
A worker recovers legacy Ra-226 sources that had been conditioned in cement during an IAEA expert mission to the Philippines. (Photo: Philippine Nuclear Research Institute)

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that, to date, 14 countries have made 14 transfers of disused radium to be recycled for use in advanced cancer treatments under the agency’s Global Radium-226 Management Initiative. Through this initiative, which was launched in 2021, legacy radium-226 from decades-old medical and industrial sources is used to produce actinium-225 radiopharmaceuticals, which have shown effectiveness in the treatment of patients with breast and prostate cancer and certain other cancers.