On April 20, 2024, the carbon-14 target was successfully extracted from the Qinshan Nuclear Heavy Water Reactor unit. This is the first time China has used nuclear commercial reactors to mass produce carbon-14 isotopes, which also means that China has solved the problem of relying on imports for carbon-14 isotopes and achieved comprehensive localization of carbon-14 supply.
The person in charge of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) introduced that it is expected that Qinshan Nuclear Power will produce over 100 Curie of carbon-14 isotopes annually, which can fully meet the demand of the Chinese market.
Curie is the unit of radioactive intensity of a substance, where 1 Curie is equal to the radiation intensity of 1 gram of radium decaying into radon. This unit was established in memory of the Polish scientist Madame Curie.
Carbon-14 isotopes have extremely high medical and scientific value, and are widely used in fields such as agriculture, chemistry, medicine, biology, etc. Their main applications include detection of Helicobacter pylori, pharmacokinetic research β Radiation environment monitoring system, etc. Previously, almost all of China’s carbon-14 supply relied on imports, which were expensive and supply was not guaranteed. The shortage of supply has seriously constrained the development of downstream industries.
Qinshan Nuclear Power has only two commercial heavy water reactors in the country. Compared with the research reactor that currently relies mainly on the production of carbon-14, the Qinshan Nuclear Heavy Water Reactor unit has a high neutron flux, a large irradiation space inside the reactor, and long-term high-power stable operation, which can ensure the stable supply of radioactive isotopes and safe production, without affecting the power generation capacity and safe operation of the unit, and the production cost is also lower.