Doubling the Beam NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes’ Dual Accelerator Isotope Production System

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC has filed a patent for a method and system that produces radioisotopes by converging beamlines from two separate electron accelerators onto a single target assembly – a dual-beam approach that significantly increases the intensity of irradiation and the yield of medically important isotopes.

The Problem

Medical radioisotopes are indispensable in modern nuclear medicine. Isotopes such as molybdenum-99 (the parent of technetium-99m), copper-67, actinium-225 and others are used in millions of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures every year, enabling imaging of cancer, heart disease, neurological conditions and a wide range of other medical problems. Without a reliable supply of these isotopes, nuclear medicine departments cannot function.

The global supply chain for medical radioisotopes has historically been fragile. The dominant production method – neutron irradiation in nuclear reactors using highly enriched uranium targets – is concentrated in a small number of ageing research reactors worldwide, creating supply shortages whenever maintenance or unexpected outages occur. The field has been actively pursuing alternative production routes that use particle accelerators rather than nuclear reactors, reducing dependence on nuclear reactor infrastructure and the regulatory complexities of highly enriched uranium.

Electron accelerator-based isotope production works by using a high-energy electron beam to produce X-rays (bremsstrahlung) which then irradiate a target material to produce the desired radioisotope through photonuclear reactions. The limitation of existing accelerator-based systems is production yield – the amount of useful isotope produced per unit time depends on the intensity and energy of the beam, and single-accelerator systems may struggle to match the production volumes achievable in reactors. Increasing the beam current of a single accelerator has physical limits; an alternative approach is needed to scale up production.

What This Invention Does

NorthStar’s invention solves the production volume challenge by using two electron accelerators simultaneously, each generating its own beamline. The two beamlines are converged onto a single target assembly, which is irradiated by both beams at the same time. The combined irradiation drives the transmutation of the target isotope into the desired product isotope at a rate that reflects the combined beam intensity – effectively doubling the irradiation compared to a single-accelerator system operating at the same individual beam parameters.

The target assembly is the core element that receives both beamlines. By irradiating a single target with two converging beams rather than two separate targets with one beam each, the system maximises the efficiency of isotope production at the target site and potentially simplifies the downstream isotope separation and handling workflow, since only one target assembly needs to be processed rather than two.

This architecture also provides redundancy: if one accelerator requires maintenance or experiences an issue, the other can continue to irradiate the target, maintaining at least partial production capacity. For medical isotopes where supply continuity is clinically critical, this built-in redundancy represents a meaningful operational advantage over systems where a single accelerator failure results in complete production stoppage.

Key Features

Dual electron accelerator architecture. Two electron accelerators each generate independent beamlines that are converged onto the target, doubling the effective irradiation intensity compared to a single-accelerator system.

Converged dual beam irradiation. Both beamlines simultaneously irradiate the same target assembly, maximising the transmutation rate of the target isotope into the desired product isotope.

Target isotope transmutation. The combined beam irradiation drives the conversion of the target material into medically useful radioisotopes through photonuclear reactions, enabling accelerator-based production independent of nuclear reactors.

Operational redundancy. The dual-accelerator design provides inherent backup capacity – if one accelerator goes offline, the other continues to operate, protecting supply continuity for critical medical isotopes.

Medical radioisotope focus. The system is specifically directed at producing radioisotopes for medical applications, addressing the global need for reliable, reactor-independent sources of diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes.

Who Is Behind It?

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC is a US-based company focused on the production of medical isotopes using accelerator technology rather than nuclear reactors. The company has been a pioneer in non-reactor production of molybdenum-99 and other medical isotopes. The inventor team – Daniel E. Peltier, Rimas S. Milunas, James T. Harvey, Sarah M. Burns, Quintin G. Schiller, Maxwell J. Brennan, Jason M. Schlough, Tomas A. Montenegro and James L. McCarter – reflects deep expertise in accelerator physics, nuclear engineering and isotope production. The application is filed through FPA Patent Attorneys and is a divisional of an earlier filing (AU 2021328565).

Why It Matters

The security of medical radioisotope supply is a genuine public health issue. When molybdenum-99 supplies are disrupted, nuclear medicine departments must cancel or delay procedures, affecting patient care across diagnostic imaging and cancer treatment. The shift from reactor-based to accelerator-based isotope production is one of the most important strategic investments being made in nuclear medicine infrastructure globally.

NorthStar’s dual-accelerator approach represents a meaningful step in making accelerator-based production more commercially viable – producing higher yields that can compete with reactor-based methods while maintaining the geographic flexibility and operational independence that accelerator systems offer. As ageing research reactors reach the end of their operational lives and regulatory pressures on highly enriched uranium use intensify, accelerator-based isotope production systems like those described in this patent will become increasingly central to the global supply of life-saving medical isotopes.

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AU 2026201599 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.