Securing the Sustainability of Global Medical Nuclear Supply Chains Through Economic Cost Recovery, Risk Management, and Optimization

In this paper, we develop a new generalized network model for the optimization of the complex operations of medical nuclear supply chains in the case of the radioisotope molybdenum, with a focus on minimizing the total operational cost, the total waste cost, and the risk associated with this highly time-sensitive and perishable, but critical, product used in healthcare diagnostics. Our model allows for the evaluation of transitioning the production and processing of the radioisotope from highly enriched uranium targets to low enriched uranium targets. A case study for North America demonstrates how our model and computational framework can be applied in practice.