SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRODUCTION OF MOLYBDENUM–99.

SEC. 3144. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRODUCTION OF MOLYBDENUM–99.(a) Findings.—Congress finds the following:(1) There are fewer than five reactors around the world currently capable of producing molybdenum–99 (in this section referred to as “Mo–99”) and there are no such reactors in the United States that can provide a reliable supply of Mo–99 to meet medical needs.(2) Since November 2007, there have been major disruptions in the global availability of Mo–99, including at facilities in Canada and the Netherlands, which have led to shortages of Mo–99-based medical products in the United States and around the world.(3) Ensuring a reliable supply of medical radioisotopes, including Mo–99, is of great importance to the public health.(4) It is also a national security priority of the United States, and specifically of the Department of Energy, to encourage the production of low-enriched uranium-based radioisotopes in order to promote a more peaceful international nuclear order.123 STAT. 2717(5) The National Academy of Sciences has identified a need to establish a reliable capability in the United States for the production of Mo–99 and its derivatives for medical purposes using low-enriched uranium.(6) There also exists a capable industrial base in the United States that can support the development of Mo–99 production facilities and can conduct the processing and distribution of radiopharmaceutical products for use in medical tests worldwide.(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—(1) radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, including Mo–99 and its derivatives, are essential components of medical tests that help diagnose and treat life-threatening diseases affecting millions of people each year; and(2) the Secretary of Energy should continue and expand a program to meet the need identified by the National Academy of Sciences to ensure a source of Mo–99 and its derivatives for use in medical tests to help ensure the health security of the United States and around the world and promote peaceful nuclear industries through the use of low-enriched uranium.