DYWFOR Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts has called for the UK Government to provide funding for a new radioisotope centre in Trawsfynydd.

Ms Saville Roberts, said a “transformational” cancer medicine production centre in Trawsfynydd would provide “vital services” for the NHS in Wales and further afield.

Ms Saville Roberts, who held a debate in the House of Commons last month, said that Trawsfynydd was the “ideal” site for a “world-class centre in medical radioisotopes”.

Radioisotopes are used to diagnose cancer and treat certain types of the disease such as prostate and liver - when they are injected or swallowed and absorbed by cancers from within the body.

The UK is currently heavily dependent on imports for key radioisotopes, much of them by air from South Africa and Europe.

In January, the Welsh Government unveiled plans for a national nuclear medicine laboratory in Liz Saville Roberts’ constituency of Dwyfor Meirionnydd.

Welsh Government’s Project ARTHUR would see the creation of a public sector national laboratory for the supply of medical radioisotopes, needed for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Ms Saville Roberts will urge the UK Government to help fund the Welsh Government’s £400 million plan.

“Radioisotopes are critical to cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Ms Saville Roberts said.

“Their use is already very common in the NHS – but sadly the UK is facing a breakdown in the supply chain which could have a severe knock-on effect for diagnostics and therapy.

“Developing a world-class centre for medical radioisotopes in Trawsfynydd could be transformational, not only as regards future security of supply for these nuclear medicines in the NHS, but also for the local economy in north Wales. It is the ideal site to be the centre of this crucial industry.”