NTP Radioisotopes faces heavy losses this year but is confident of regaining market share

NTP Radioisotopes (NTP), a subsidiary of the State-owned South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, is expected to make a loss this year of R224-million, in comparison to profits of R108-million last year and of R184-million in 2017. This was stated in a written reply to a Parliamentary question by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe.

Safety concerns disrupted NTP’s radioisotope production from November 2017 to February 2018 and then again from May 2018 to November 2018. The company’s radioisotopes are mainly used in nuclear medicine.

Since last November, it “has been producing steadily for local customers and international customers,” stated the Minister in his written reply. NTP is producing and dispatching both Molybdenum-99 and Iodine-131 radioisotopes.