A pioneering nuclear medicine production facility is coming to France
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The world’s first industrial facility dedicated to the production of thorium‑228 for vectorised internal radiotherapy treatments will open in France’s Haute‑Vienne department in 2027. Actemium is helping to create this pioneering unit.
In November 2024, in Bessines-sur-Gartempe in central France, Orano Med, an Orano group subsidiary specialised in the development of targeted cancer treatments, began construction of the world’s first factory dedicated to the industrial production of thorium‑228, a precursor to lead‑212, a radio isotope used in targeted alpha therapy. This technique can destroy cancerous cells while limiting the impact on surrounding healthy cells.
The future ATEF (Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility) will produce thorium‑228 in industrial quantities for the cancer treatments Orano Med has been developing over the past 10 years. By industrialising this process, the nuclear giant’s medical subsidiary hopes to apply a powerful boost to the development of alpha therapy. The target is to be producing 100,000 doses of the medication a year within 10 years.
Recognised industrial expertise
To meet this ambitious challenge, Orano Med has surrounded itself with recognised industrial experts in the nuclear ecosystem. Actemium Projets Nucléaires France, one of the VINCI Energies Activité Nucléaire division’s 27 business units, has been entrusted with the study phase, along with installation of the electrical distribution system from the 20 kV Enedis network, extra-low voltage systems, instrumentation, process control, radiation and nuclear protection control, and physical protective measures.
The target is to be producing 100,000 doses a year within 10 years.
“We are specialists in nuclear safety applied to the fuel cycle,” says Jérôme Morin, Business Unit Manager at Actemium Projets Nucléaires France. “And Orano Med is now asking us to apply that same expertise to the field of nuclear medicine.”
The Orano subsidiary has invested €250 million in this 7,000 sq. metre production site, €22 million of which come from the government’s France 2030 plan. Commissioning of the facility is due in 2027.
02/16/2026
