Overview
- TerraPower Isotopes, which broke ground Wednesday, began building a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in South Philadelphia’s Bellwether District.
- The company says the site, paired with its existing Everett, Washington lab, will raise global actinium-225 supply about twentyfold.
- Actinium-225 is a short-lived alpha emitter used to deliver radiation directly to tumors, with human trials underway including a Phase 3 study in advanced prostate cancer.
- The investment is projected at about $450 million and is expected to create roughly 225 permanent jobs by a planned opening in mid-to-late 2029, with Pennsylvania awarding a $10 million grant.
- TerraPower Isotopes sources feedstock by extracting thorium-229 from Cold War–era materials processed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then harvests actinium-225 as the material naturally decays.