Missouri lawmakers on both sides of the aisle packed Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for two key additions to the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia.
M System President Dr. Mun Choi says MURR’s radioisotope doses treat about 460,000 people annually worldwide:
“The investments in these two new facilities will expand the capabilities for us to develop even more radioisotope treatments for Americans and people all over the world. And that’s why it’s such an important investment for us,” President Choi says.
He tells reporters that the $50-million addition projects are industry-sponsored, adding that about 300 employees currently work at MURR. He says the new additions will streamline MURR operations and expects the project to take two years to build.
President Choi predicts that the additions will greatly increase the number of medical doses available for patient care. He says the additions will also reduce the number of patients on the waiting list to receive the life-saving doses:
“And these two new facilities will expand the capabilities that our researchers and manufacturing experts have so that we can increase the number of radioisotopes that we manufacture and ship out throughout the United States and all over the world,” President Choi says.
MURR is the nation’s only producer of four medical isotopes used in lifesaving treatments for liver, thyroid, pancreatic and prostate cancer. Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick, State Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) and State Rep. Kent Haden (R-Mexico) were among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony.
MURR operates at ten megawatts and is the highest-power university research reactor in the nation.