Two U.S. companies get grants to build domestic medical isotope production

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Babcock & Wilcox received NNSA grants ($4.5 million and $9 million respectively) that will help them develop medical isotopes production facilities in the United States. GE Hitachi will rely on a new technology, which "can be used in existing nuclear reactors" to produce the isotopes. Babcock & Wilcox is planning to build a new reactor, which could be ready by 2014. Neither project is expected to involve HEU.