Mizzou says proposed new reactor is critical to treating cancer and heart disease

Mizzou officials say building a new and larger research reactor in Columbia is critical to ensuring a lifetime supply of isotopes needed to diagnose heart disease and to detect and treat cancer.

Mizzou’s Sarah Chinniah delivered a detailed presentation to Columbia’s Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI) board on Wednesday at the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building on-campus. The proposed reactor would be built on Mizzou property near Discovery Ridge, near Highway 63 in south Columbia.

Ms. Chinniah tells business leaders that the proposed new reactor would cost about $1-billion and will take about ten to 12 years to build. She notes the current MU Research Reactor (MURR) near South Providence is licensed through 2037. That facility was built in 1966, and cost about $1.5 million to build. The current facility is down the hill from Faurot Field. It operates 52 weeks a year, 24 hours a day, six-point-five days a week.