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.