Pure germanium will do wonders for economy

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.

A radioactive isotope of germanium, germanium-68 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.

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

It was not until December 2022 that the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences announced progress in producing germanium-68 and now the CIAE has marked one step further.

By saving on additional cost of customs, transportation and things related with import, the domestically produced germanium-68 will surely be cheaper, which in turn will mean lower cost of 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.