Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and Thai engineering and scientific equipment supplier Kinetics Corporation are to supply a cyclotron complex with radiochemical laboratories to the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT) after a turnkey contract was awarded to Kinetics following a tender held by TINT. Rosatom subsidiary Rusatom Healthcare will act as the technology provider. Rosatom said on 7 September that the core of the complex will be a MCC-30/15 cyclotron of 30 MeV proton energy. It will also be used to produce isotopes for PET and SPECT diagnostics. The facility will be located at Ongkharak Nuclear Research Centre in Nakhon Nayok and will accommodate a cyclotron and several laboratories for the production of radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine and other purposes, as well as serve as a platform for R&D activities.
All the isotopes for SPECT - single-photon emission computed tomography - in Thailand are imported, with some PET - positron-emission tomography - isotopes produced in hospitals locally in amounts that cannot meet demand, Rosatom said. The new cyclotron will enable Thailand to produce its own isotopes and will also drive R&D in nuclear medicine, as well as in the application of nuclear technologies in different areas of industry, it added.
