"Driving the news: TerraPower, an advanced nuclear energy company founded nearly 20 years ago, is scaling up production of a key cancer drug ingredient - a medical isotope, or radioactive atoms used for medical diagnoses and treatment. It made the discovery nine years ago in what initially was a side project. It's going through drug trials now, with results expected in the next couple of years, said Chris Levesque, TerraPower's CEO, at an Axios event during Climate Week NYC last month."
""It's going to be a very lucrative business for us, and of course it fulfills our mission of helping people with nuclear technology," Levesque said. Proceeds from the isotope sales will "really help us offset some of the investment needed to build those first reactors while we're bringing down the cost curve," Levesque said. After initially targeting a 2028 start date of its first advanced nuclear reactor in Wyoming, TerraPower has pushed that to 2030 due to fuel shortages."
Building hundreds of nuclear power plants, including advanced fission and prospective fusion, offers a high-potential route to meet rapid power demand and reduce emissions. Funding the expensive, complex scaling pathways is essential because market pressures seek quicker profits. TerraPower, founded nearly 20 years ago, is scaling production of a medical isotope used in cancer diagnosis and treatment and is running drug trials with results expected in coming years. Sales of isotopes aim to offset investments needed to build initial reactors while costs decline. Fusion-focused firms like SHINE pursue phased strategies that commercialize intermediate products, including isotopes and defense applications, before electricity generation.
Read at Axios
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