MEDICAL RADIOISOTOPE AND RESEARCH REACTOR (MRRR) Optioneering Study

Tender description

Research indicates that in the next 10 years demand for medical radioisotopes will exceed supply. This threatens the security of supply of medical radioisotopes for all European countries. Building on Phase A of the Medical Radioisotope and Research Reactor (MRRR) Project – Verification supply and demand of medical radioisotopes, the Welsh Government Office for Science (WGOS) wishes to procure the services of a contractor with specific knowledge in: • Nuclear reactor design, build and operation. • Technologies capable of supplying medical radioisotopes. • The medical radioisotope lifecycle from production and purification through to supply and administration. The role of this contractor will be to undertake Phase B of the MRRR Project - The MRRR Optioneering Study The study will undertake an overview of all options capable of providing a secure supply of medical radioisotopes to the UK. The contractor will provide an Optioneering report summarising the results and identifying a preferred option to be taken forward to Phase C – A detailed investigation and feasibility assessment of the preferred option. The overall vision for this programme is for a UK centre of excellence in nuclear technologies, primarily focused on nuclear medicine but with options to include, research on nuclear fuels, nuclear materials, neutron physics research etc. The contractor will be required to define a ‘vision’ which will put Wales and the UK at the world table of nuclear technology and nuclear healthcare expertise by creating world-class research, development and innovation centre with new capabilities in new nuclear technology and a capacity to support nuclear medicine within the UK. The overall programme should include the core production and processing facilities for medical radioisotopes and may ultimately also include, but not be limited to: • A treatment centre, • Pre-clinical research and pharmaceutical development, and • Nuclear Research.