PSEG’s Salem, NJ, nuclear plant is picking up a life-saving side hustle. (ANS)
PSEG, Westinghouse, and Nordion are teaming up to launch the first commercial-scale production of cobalt-60 in a US nuclear reactor. Cobalt-60 is the isotope responsible for sterilizing 40% of all single-use medical devices.
The retrofit details: Westinghouse is awaiting NRC approval to install special "burnable absorber" inserts that passively cook cobalt targets while the reactor runs, harvesting the radioactive bounty every 18 months without interrupting the flow of electricity.
Between the lines: With 50% of the current Co-60 supply coming from Canada—and tariffs looming—this project secures a domestic supply chain for a critical resource that was looking uncomfortably exposed.