A new analytical laboratory has opened at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to speed the cleanup of the site's uranium-233 inventory and accelerate delivery of actinium-225 for cancer research. The lab is operated by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor Isotek Systems, sits in ORNL's Building 2026, and was equipped by Teledyne Brown Engineering.
"This helps avoid delays by providing employees more data and faster results as they make decisions and process material for disposal," said Erik Olds, manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. "This new, unique capability also provides us opportunities to support other priority projects in the future."
The uranium-233 at Oak Ridge was created in the 1950s and 1960s for potential reactor fuel and was later judged unviable for that use. About half the inventory can be disposed of directly. The remainder must first be converted into a transportable and disposable form. DOE selected Isotek Systems, a subsidiary of AtkinsRealis, to eliminate the stockpile, and the contractor has already disposed of roughly three-fourths of it.
The remaining material had been expected to take several more years to process. Faster on-site analysis is expected to shorten that schedule, reduce cost and risk, and clear the way to demolish the storage facility.
The Oak Ridge stockpile is the only major source of thorium-229 in the world, so Isotek extracts thorium-229 before disposal. TerraPower Isotopes is contracted to extract actinium-225 from that thorium for targeted alpha therapy trials. "The future of precision medicine relies on having a dependable supply of Ac-225," said TerraPower Isotopes president Scott Claunch.
Source: Nuclear Newswire - https://www.ans.org/news/2026-08-21/article-8315/new-lab-at-ornl-speeds-up-u233-cleanup-ac225-delivery/