The China Institute of Atomic Energy has succeeded in producing germanium-68, which has a nuclear purity higher than 99.9 percent and meets demands for medical use, by using a 100 Mega electron-volt high-current proton cyclotron accelerator. Without doubt, this is good news for domestic hospitals, patients, as well as enterprises.

Germanium-68, which is a radioactive isotope of germanium, is useful because it can decay into gallium-68, which is widely used in positron emission tomography for detecting tumors. Gallium-68 has a half-life of only 68 minutes while that of germanium-68 is about 271 days, which means the latter can be more easily and conveniently stored than the former. Medical companies usually produce germanium-68 and store it till it decays into gallium-68 before using it.

China has long been the world's largest producer of germanium and gallium, accounting for over 65 percent of the world's total of both, and it is the largest exporter of germanium and gallium, and yet it relies heavily on imports of germanium-68 to meet its demands. What happens is foreign companies buy germanium and gallium from China at a low price and sell the radioactive isotope back at a higher price.

It was not until late 2022 that Chinese scientists announced progress in producing germanium-68 and now the latest achievement has gone one step further in that direction.

By saving on customs, transportation and other related import costs, the domestically produced germanium-68 will surely be cheaper, which in turn will mean lower-cost PET scanning for patients.

Further, with a nuclear purity higher than 99.9 percent and metal impurity lower than 10 ppm, the domestically produced germanium-68 meets mainstream international medical use standards, too, improving its prospects for export. Combined with China's limit on export of germanium and gallium since August 2023, China's rich reserve of germanium and gallium will play a bigger role in its economy.

- Zhang Zhouxiang, China Daily