Jamaica has opened its first public nuclear medicine centre with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Rays of Hope initiative. The centre, at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Kingston, will provide diagnosis and treatment for cancer and other diseases including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

The Caribbean's only research reactor will be converted from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel later this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. The change will decrease proliferation risks while doubling the reactor's utilization capacity.