The Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) plans to amend the permit of IDB Holland B.V. (IDB). We want to provide consent for this manufacturer of raw materials for radioactive medicines to manufacture the raw materials in a new building in Baarle-Nassau. The company does so using a new method that produces less radioactive waste and is safe for people and the environment. Until midnight on 28 November, all individuals are welcome to submit a response to the draft licence.
Image: © Novartis
Necessary in treating cancer
IDB is aiming to start using a new production method in a new building to manufacture the radioactive medicinal raw material known as lutetium chloride. Hospitals use this raw material to make radioactive medicines for treating prostate cancer, among other things.
Last year, we permitted IDB to test the new method at the new location. The company has now applied for a change to its license to be allowed to manufacture the raw material with our consent. We have assessed this request.
Manufacturing radioactive raw materials in a safe way
We have concluded that IDB is manufacturing the radioactive raw materials in a safe way. The company is taking the correct measures to protect employees and the environment from exposure to radiation. For example, they have set out clear working agreements on paper relating to monitoring and who within the company is responsible for approving activities involving radioactive substances.
Less radioactive waste
The new production method results in less radioactive waste compared with the method that IDB has so far been using. That is because the raw material produced is purer than before, and IDB can also reuse the material used to make the raw material. This in turn would mean that IDB is less dependent on suppliers from abroad.
Responses may be submitted until 28 November
You can review the draft licence (in Dutch) for IDB up to and including 28 November. If you have any comments on this draft licence that you wish to share, you can do so in three ways:
By email
Send an email with the subject line ‘Statement of view concerning draft licence for IDB Holland B.V.’ to Postbus.Aanvragenenmelden@anvs.nl.
In writing
Send a letter to the ANVS with the subject line ‘Statement of view concerning draft licence for IDB Holland B.V.’ to P.O. Box 16001, 2500 BA, The Hague.
By telephone
Call the Information Desk for Nuclear Energy Act licences at +31 (0)88 489 05 00, available from Monday to Friday between 8.30 and 17.00.
Response in final licence
We will respond to the views that have been stated once we have made a final decision on IDB’s licence application. We will include the stated views and our response to them in our final decision on the licence. We will publish this decision on Publicatieplatform UitvoeringsContent. If you have submitted a statement of view, we will inform you of our decision.
To find out more:
You can also read the official announcement (in Dutch) in the Government Gazette.