The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada have approved the use of the Maria Research Reactor in Poland as a site to irradiate highly-enriched uranium targets for molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) production, according to Covidien.

Covidien said it will use the Mo-99 obtained from Maria Research Reactor in the manufacture of its technetium-99m (Tc-99m) generators and patients should begin to benefit in the United States and Canada later this month.

On Feb. 17, 2010, Covidien and the Institute of Atomic Energy in Poland agreed to augment the global supply of Mo-99 by adding the Poland’s Maria Research Reactor to Covidien's supply chain.

According to the Dublin-headquartered company, more than 35 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed worldwide each year, of which more than half are in the United States.