Title: Nuclear Material
Course: Critical Infrastructure: An Overview > Section: Course Content

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Nuclear Material

The main use of nuclear material (that material that is not involved in power production or weapons) is in the field of medicine. Nuclear material or radioactive material is used in the field of medicine. It can be used in diagnostic processes, in medication and treatment of illnesses, and in research to cure and prevent illnesses [10].

Nuclear medicine is the name given to the branch of medicine that uses radiation and radioactive materials. “About one-third of all patients admitted to hospitals are diagnosed or treated using radiation or radioactive materials” [10].

Nuclear medicine has applications in neurology, cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, and more through imaging. Imaging helps to diagnose and locate areas of disease, as well as aiding in the treatment decisions [11].

Radiopharmacueticals are drugs that carry a limited amount of radioactive materials called radioisotopes; these come from reactors or cyclotrons [12]. They are then processed in radiopharmacies and made into the radiopharmaceuticals that hospitals use. Many of these products only retain their radioactivity for approximately one day [11].

Modern radiopharmaceuticals make it possible for doctors to see into a patient's body with high quality images (sometimes 3-D) that are more advanced than the x-rays of the past. In diagnostic imaging a radiopharmaceutical is injected into the patient, it is distributed throughout the patient’s body, but concentrates itself in areas of disease. Images are then made of the patient with the areas of disease more easily visable because of the concentration of radiopharmaceutical [13].

Nuclear medicine can also be used to help destroy diseased tissue, often in cancer patients. It can also aid in the treatment of pain in patients with arthritis or bone cancer [11].