The UM System president says Mizzou has already raised about $200-million for the $1-billion needed to build a new 20-megawatt research reactor near south Columbia’s Discovery Ridge.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe’s proposed budget also includes $50-million for the project. UM Board of Curators chair Todd Graves of Platte City tells 939 the Eagle News that he thinks Mizzou will find the funding for the project:
“Some of this will be funded by industry partners, at some point. There’s value proposition there for them. But we’re going to need the commitment of the state. We’re going to need the commitment of the federal government. But this is the kind of project … not only do we have the experience that puts in that lead position, but it’s the kind of project this country needs,” Graves says.
Curator Graves says the planned project also provides a tremendous economic development boost for the entire mid-Missouri region. University of Missouri officials signed a ceremonial agreement this week to partner with a consortium to build a new 20-megawatt state-of-the-art research reactor near south Columbia’s Discovery Ridge. The new reactor will be known as NextGen MURR.
Meantime, a UM curator who served as a congressman for eight terms on Capitol Hill predicts the planned new reactor will save additional lives in the future in the United States and the world. The current MU Research Reactor (MURR), which was built in 1966, is the only U.S. producer of four medical isotopes used to treat liver, thyroid, pancreatic and prostate cancer. UM curator Blaine Luetkemeyer tells 939 the Eagle News his father lived another ten years after getting prostate cancer, adding that his brother-in-law now has pancreatic cancer:
“One of the greatest things that we can do for ourselves and our fellow man is to make a difference in their lives. And this makes a difference in people’s lives,” former Congressman Luetkemeyer says.
Mizzou is partnering with a consortium that includes Hyundai Engineering America and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI).
