SEOUL, Feb. 17, 2010 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has set up a contingency plan to use its High-flux Advanced Neutron Aplication Reactor(HANARO) to cope with any shortfalls in global radioactive isotope supply, the government said Wednesday.

   The science ministry said there is no immediate concern of shortages, but announced it is prepared to use the 30 megawatt reactor to produce up to 10 curie(Ci) of Technetium-99m(Tc-99m) per week in emergency situations. HANARO located in Daejeon 160 kilometers south of Seoul is a "pure" research reactor that does not normally make Tc-99m.

   Tc-99m have a relative short half-life of six hours, and is extensively used to act as radioactive "tracers" to allow doctors to see the growth and spread of cancer inside the body. South Korea uses an average 110 Ci of the radioactive material every week.

   It said that if the need arises, the country can import Molybdenum-98s and extract up to 40 Ci of Tc-99m that can meet 36 percent of domestic demand.

   The ministry, in addition, said that 250 billion won(US$218.9 million) has ben requested so preliminary studies can be conducted on building a dedicated isotope producing reactor that can fully meet local requirements.

   The plan comes as research reactors that make Tc-99m around the world have gone off line in recent months due to maintenance problems caused by age.

   Most of the medical radioactive isotopes are made in countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Australia and Belgium but many of these reactors are over 40 years old and slated to be shut down.

   At present, the country buys 90 Ci of Tc-99m from South Africa's SAFARI unit, and 20 Ci from the Netherlands' HFR reactor.
   Because the HFR unit will be turned off for six months for maintenance work starting this week, South Korea has reached agreements with Belgium and Australia to buy 20 Ci of the isotopes.