A linear programming approach to scheduling nuclear isotope production

The design, implementation, and use of a model for scheduling the production of nuclear isotopes is presented. The model is formulated as a multiple-period linear-programming (LP) problem with several classes of product-demand, inventory, and production-level constraints. An important feature of the model is its role in managing in-process inventories over the extended period of time required for the production of certain isotopes. Considerable discussion is given to practical issues surrounding the model implementation and the model´s many production and marketing applications.