Since the beginning of the 20th century, with Pierre and Marie Curie leading the way, nuclear materials have been used to treat patients (radium) and improve diagnostics through medical imaging (X-rays). Today, nuclear medicine offers more and more accurate diagnostics using scintigraphy and tomography.
Orano’s expertise in transforming nuclear materials has progressed in recent years with the development of anticancer treatments and medical research using isotopes. This is the case for lead-212. Orano Med, Orano’s medical subsidiary, has developed a new and very promising process to extract and purify lead-212 for targeted alpha therapy, an innovative form of cancer radiotherapy that reduces the impact on healthy cells.