On September 10th, China’s first batch of medical cobalt-60 raw material components were officially set off at Qinshan Nuclear Power site and transported to China Isotope & Radiation Corporation to launch the trial production. It indicates that China National Nuclear Corporation will soon put the domestic cobalt-60 radioactive source into the market. China’s domestic gamma knife equipment “China Core” is about to be born. At that time, China’s medical cobalt-60 radioactive source is no longer “lack of core and source”. If the supply problem is solved, it would bring benefits to tens of thousands of patients, and the gamma knife medical industry will achieve a sustainable development.
In order to solve the problem that China’s medical cobalt-60 has been completely dependent on imports, CNNC, with the strong support of the National Nuclear Safety Administration and the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau, has listed the domestication of cobalt-60 radioactive sources into the “Longteng 2020” plan. China Isotope & Radiation Corporation, working with Qinshan Nuclear Power, Shanghai Nuclear Engineering & Research Institute, tackled the problem. In 2010, it realized the localization of industrial cobalt-60 radioactive sources and broke the long-term monopoly of foreign countries.
Cobalt-60 is an isotope of cobalt. Cobalt-60 radioactive sources are widely used in agriculture, industry, and medicine. In particular, the production of medical cobalt-60 has important social and economic benefits. Cobalt-60 gamma knife has become an important component of comprehensive tumor therapy because of its precise positioning, good curative effect, free trauma, mild side effects and good economy.
