Nuclear medicine has come a long way since Henri Becquerel first observed the penetrating energy of radioactive materials in 1896. Today, technetium-99m alone is used in more than 40 million diagnostic procedures every year—from cardiovascular imaging and bone scans to cancer detection—making it the undisputed workhorse of nuclear medicine. That single statistic tells you something important: An enormous portion of modern diagnostic medicine rests on a surprisingly narrow foundation, one built around a small number of aging research reactors that were never originally designed for continuous isotope production.

Australia-based Clarity Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company, has signed a supply agreement for copper-67 with Nusano, Inc., headquartered in California. Nusano produces radioisotopes for medical, commercial, and industrial applications.

El Segundo, Calif.–based reactor start-up Valar Atomics recently announced that it has broken ground on its test reactor, the Ward 250, at Utah San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), becoming the second company participating in the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program to do so.

Almost every day this week has featured headlines concerning announcements, signings, and progress across Utah’s nuclear sector.

At a glance: TerraPower, Flagship, and the state signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on siting a Natrium reactor; $5 million may come to Camp Williams for General Matter–related site preparation work; and Nusano cut the ribbon on a radioisotope production facility.