New lab at ORNL speeds up U-233 cleanup, Ac-225 delivery

August 21, 2026, 7:16AMNuclear News
The ribbon is cut for the new analytical lab in ORNL’s Building 2026 by, from left, AtkinsRéalis’s Jeff Kendall, TerraPower Isotopes’ Scott Claunch, Isotek Systems’ Sarah Schaefer, OREM’s Erik Olds, TerraPower Isotopes’ Ben Goodrich, and OREM’s Teresa Robbins. (Photo: DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

A new analytical laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been officially opened by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor Isotek Systems. The state-of-the-art lab, located in Building 2026, is being used to speed up the high-priority cleanup of ORNL’s uranium-233 inventory and accelerate the delivery of actinium-225 to facilities that use the radioisotope in research and for potential treatment of patients with cancer.