Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is enabling the Department of Energy's Office of Isotope R&D and Production mission to serve crucial national missions of security, energy, medicine, and science through radioisotopes and stable isotopes.
Experts in isotope science, processing and production work with materials that essential to American medicine, national security, energy, and scientific discovery. From cancer‑fighting treatments to nuclear forensics and advanced manufacturing, isotopes enable real‑world solutions that protect lives and strengthen U.S. leadership.
ORNL is the nation’s leading center for isotope research, production, and enrichment. With unique facilities, unmatched expertise, and decades of innovation, the lab secures the domestic isotope supply chain and advances global leadership in isotope science.
The mission of the DOE Isotope R&D and Production program is to produce and distribute stable and radioactive isotopes for research and applications.
Discover the role isotopes played in the historic development of the lab and their impact on World War II.
Read up on the latest news in isotopes at ORNL and how this work is impacting medicine, national security, space travel and more.
Isotopes are essential to American medicine, national security, energy, and scientific discovery. From cancer‑fighting treatments to nuclear forensics and advanced manufacturing, isotopes enable real‑world solutions that protect lives and strengthen U.S. leadership.
ORNL is the nation’s leading center for isotope research, production, and enrichment. With unique facilities, unmatched expertise, and decades of innovation, ORNL secures the domestic isotope supply chain and advances global leadership in isotope science.
ORNL produces several isotopes used for medical diagnostics and treatment. Among the best-known are actinium-225, now in clinical trials for targeted radiotherapy cancer treatment, and actinium-227, produced for a contract with Bayer for use in the drug Xofigo™, which is given to prostate cancer patients with metastasized bone cancer that hasn’t responded to other treatments.
ORNL-produced nickel-63 can be used to detect unusual amounts of nitrogen, a common ingredient in explosives, making it useful for airport and other security checkpoints. It’s also an inexpensive method of detecting hazardous chemicals and vapors.
ORNL produces iridium-192, used to inspect welds by radiography and test other materials, and recently began producing promethium-147, recovering it from byproducts of plutonium-238 production, for measuring materials and powering nuclear batteries. ORNL is the largest producer in the Western Hemisphere of californium-252, used to start up nuclear reactors and analyze materials, and produces more than 70 percent of the world’s supply.
ORNL has focused on dispensing the existing inventory and production of special isotope chemical and physical forms using metallurgical, ceramic and vacuum processing methods for National Isotope Development Center customers requiring specialized products.
Experts at the lab standardize quality-controlled manufacturing processes for in-demand isotopes, reducing the United States’ dependence on foreign suppliers. ORNL produces, purifies and ships more radioisotopes and stable isotopes than any place in the world for national security, industry, medicine, space exploration and more.
ORNL has a unique complex of nuclear facilities to support the increasing demand for producing isotopes and developing nuclear fuels and materials. Experts at the lab operate, maintain and modernize those facilities, managing infrastructure, staffing and processes needed to support research and development.
Experts in isotope science working at ORNL comprise a team of more than 500 scientists, engineers, technicians, facilities experts and other professionals spearheading isotope science. They work to increase isotope production and discover more applications for isotopes in national security, industry, medicine and research.
