A national isotope program to meet the needs of the United States in the 21 st century

摘要

A national isotope program is critical to restoring U.S. technical leadership in isotope science, discovery, and innovation and to reducing its overdependence on foreign sources for meeting critical health care and security needs. The peaceful use of stable isotopes and radioisotopes in the United States has expanded continuously since their introduction in the 1940s. Now used in applications ranging from industry to medical therapy, radioisotopes are a significant component of the economy, with over $300 billion in sales and 4 million jobs related to their use. Traditional industrial use is continuing, and use of radioisotopes for food irradiation, sterilization of medical supplies, and other applications is quickly gaining public acceptance. In medicine, radioisotopes are used in 15 million diagnostic procedures and several hundred thousand therapeutic treatments each year in the United States. Significant increases in medical research have increased the need for new research isotopes for advanced applications.