Perma-Fix Environmental Services - Earnings Call - Q1 2015

Transcript

Speaker 0

Greetings, and welcome to the Perma Fix Environmental Services First Quarter twenty fifteen Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr.

David Waldman with Crexendo Communications. Thank you. You may begin.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Perma Fix Environmental Services first quarter twenty fifteen conference call. On the call with us this morning are Doctor. Lou Senifani, CEO and Ben Naccaratto, Chief Financial Officer. The company issued a press release this morning containing first quarter twenty fifteen financial results, which is also posted on the company's website.

If you have any questions after the call or would like any additional information about the company, please contact Crescendo Communications at (212) 671-1020. I'd also like to remind everyone that certain statements contained within this conference call may be deemed forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements on this conference call other than a statement of historical fact, are forward looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results and performance of the company to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the company's filings with The U. S.

Securities And Exchange Commission. The company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to forward looking statements or any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon forward looking statements. I'd now like to turn the call over to Doctor. Lou Sanifani. Please go ahead, Lou.

Speaker 2

Thank you, David, and welcome, everyone. As we've indicated in our last call, expecting a small EBITDA loss in the first quarter, and that's what we've seen. However, when you compare the first quarter financial results same period last year, it did provide for improved revenue and significant cost reductions. More importantly, our visibility heading into the second quarter is much better than we've seen in the last several years and we anticipate a strong second quarter and even a stronger second half. As a result, we're comfortable providing guidance for both the second quarter and the full year.

Second quarter, we anticipate adjusted EBITDA in the range of 2.5 to $3,000,000 And as I mentioned, this is shaping up to be a very good year. We currently expect adjusted EBITDA of 6,000,000 to $7,000,000 with positive earnings for the full year. And in fact, we feel this guidance is somewhat conservative in that we could achieve these numbers without any large project wins in the Service segment. If we do secure some big wins in the Service segment, there could definitely be upside. As I've mentioned in the past, we are currently bidding on some very large contracts that we believe we're in a strong position to win.

Our overall revenue was up in the 2015. Revenue in the Treatment Segment increased 27.1%. Revenue in the Service Segment increased 34.1% compared to the same period last year. Same time, our gross margin increased 10.9% in the first quarter versus 0.9% same period last year. We attribute the increase in our gross margin to higher revenue and reduction in certain fixed costs.

On the treatment side of our business, we continue to see Department of Energy shipping waste and our sales pipeline continues to improve. In the Service segment, we are bidding on several large sizable projects, some of which are not factored into the guidance. It can be quite significant in their own right. In addition, the service segment helps feed the treatment segment as we have greater visibility into the waste streams when our staff are on-site and overseeing the cleanup effort. Also, as I mentioned in previous discussions, we continue to advance our patented process to produce TEC-ninety nine ms.

Our process enables production of this essential medical isotope for diagnostic imaging procedures in a way that is cost effective and does not require the use of uranium for the production of TEK-ninety nine. We continue to view this as exciting and very significant opportunity for the company. As we've discussed in the past, we believe we've developed a disruptive process to allow us to dominate this market. We have conducted additional tests of the technology with one of our strategic partners that has helped us further validate our process at higher acuity levels. We'll be disclosing more on this front in the near future.

We currently meet necessary standards, industry requirements to supply TEC-ninety nine in the emerging markets. As we move to higher acuity levels, we're confident our process will be extremely well received in both North America and Europe after FDA and CE market clearances. We are pleased to report the grant we were awarded earlier this year we have now formally accepted. The grant award for the consortium we formed was $2,800,000 of which Perma Fix Medical, our Polish based subsidiary, would directly receive approximately 800,000 We have scheduled a shareholder meeting for Perma Fix Medical in Poland for June 2. At this meeting, they will be voting on the approval for Digirad stock acquisition and also a new management team.

In terms of Digirad, following the shareholder meeting, we expect to close on the $1,000,000 strategic investment. We are pleased to have developed a strong working relationship with Digirad, one of the largest national providers of in office nuclear cardiology imaging services. Additionally, following the shareholder meeting, we look forward to announcing the new senior management team that will help run from the fixed medical. We have assembled a team of leading experts with proven track records in their respective areas of expertise to help accelerate our activities going forward. So to wrap up, we are encouraged by the outlook for 2015, given our sales pipeline within the Service segment and our improving outlook within the Treatment segment.

Looking ahead, we expect significant improvements in the second quarter, positive EBITDA for the first half of the year and a 2015 that is much stronger than the first. We again appreciate your support and dedication of support of our investors and dedication of our employees. At this point, I'd like to turn the call over to Ben, who will go into more details on the numbers, and I'll be back to answer questions at the conclusion of the formal remarks. Ben?

Speaker 3

Thank you, Luke. I'll begin with revenue. Our total revenue from continuing operations for the quarter was $13,600,000 compared to last year's first quarter of $10,500,000 an increase of $3,100,000 or 29%. Our improved revenue was the result of increases at both our operating segments as increased volume in our treatment plants resulted in approximately $2,100,000 increase in revenue, while our Services segment revenue increased approximately $1,000,000 as a result of more project work. Turning to cost of goods sold.

Our total cost of sales was $12,100,000 in the first quarter compared to $10,400,000 in the prior year. Our Treatment Segment costs were up $952,000 or 12.6% compared to last year. Variable expenses increased by $1,100,000 as a result of the higher volume process, but were offset by reduction in fixed costs of $158,000 primarily from lower healthcare and depreciation related expenses. Our cost of sales from our service segment were up $720,000 compared to prior year or 24.9 percent. Our incremental project costs related to the increased revenue were offset by lower operating costs fixed operating costs resulting from reductions in our overhead support labor costs.

Our gross profit for the quarter was $1,500,000 compared to only $94,000 in 2014, an increase of 1,400,000.0 Our gross profit in the Treatment Segment increased by $1,100,000 compared to prior year. Increased volume of waste and lower fixed operating expenses were offset by slightly lower margin waste process. Gross profit from the service segment was 243,000 compared to a loss of 17,000 in 2014. And again, our increased revenue and improved project profitability along with our lower fixed overhead costs all contributed to the improvement. SG and A costs for the quarter were $2,900,000 down from $3,200,000 last year.

Lower labor costs were partially offset by higher consulting expenses as we continue to focus on administrative cost efficiency. Our loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $2,000,000 compared to $3,700,000 last year. And included in this loss are costs of approximately CAD 395,000 and CAD 134,000 related to our medical isotope development project for Q1 twenty fifteen and Q1 twenty fourteen respectively. Loss of applicable common shareholders was $2,100,000 compared to last year's net loss of $4,000,000 Again, the loss includes costs of $395,001 $134,000 related to the medical exotope for the two quarters respectively. Our total loss per share for the quarter was $0.18 compared to a loss in prior year of $0.35 Our adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations as defined in this morning's press release was a loss of $441,000 compared to a loss of $2,100,000 last year.

Turning to the balance sheet. Our cash was down $2,500,000 primarily from the losses incurred in the quarter and as well the reduction of our deferred revenue built up in prior quarters. Last, our waste backlog was $6,400,000 compared to 9,200,000.0 at the end of the year and $6,500,000 in March 2014. Our current debt was $3,700,000 which is consistent with prior year, our year end. And our debt total debt for the quarter stands at $12,000,000 with approximately $10,000,000 coming from our credit facility P and C, 2,000,000 from and $2,000,000 from our shareholder loan.

Finally, a quick summary of our cash flow activity. Our cash used in continuing operations was $2,700,000 and our cash used from discontinued operation was CAD232000. Cash used by investing was CAD128000, of which CAD121000 represents cash spending and our net financing cash flow provided was about $586,000 With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions.

Speaker 0

Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. Session. Our first question comes from the line of Al Kaczak with Wedbush Securities.

Speaker 4

Good morning, Lou. Good morning, Ben.

Speaker 2

Hey, Al. Good morning.

Speaker 4

I want to focus first on the treatment and the service revenue here. Very good performance on the top line, but the margin, the gross profit margin dollars look to be a little disappointing. One, was it disappointing relative to your forecast and plan? And two, what was the despite the higher revenue in treatment, it looks like it was a little bit low on the gross profit contribution. Could you talk to that, please?

Speaker 3

Al, as you know, we do a lot of our treatments in batches. And so it really depends on the waste stream or the waste mix that we process. Fourth quarter, for example, we did not turn on the boilers out in the Northwest facility, which is where we burn a lot of the lower level wastewater type work. So what you're seeing in the margin is higher volume, a little bit lower margin activity. We can't just bleed it through.

We sort of try to do this as efficient as possible. And firing up the boilers, for example, can be expensive, so we do it when there's enough volume. So it's really a mix issue. What you'll see then is that waste coming in, in the first quarter, which is a higher margin waste, will just push into second. So it kind of factors into the year, but as you know, at a quarter basis, it looks a little bit low.

Speaker 4

Yes. So from an operating perspective though, this is consistent with practices. In other words, there's not a is there some timing or seasonality change in the waste stream that you're seeing that would affect how we think about this going forward? I think I hear the answer is no, but maybe you guys can answer that.

Speaker 2

Yes. I think the answer is no, Al, that our pricing is holding up and it's more a mix issue in terms of what you're seeing in the first quarter.

Speaker 3

Yes. And we get liquids like this all the time and it's always blended in a full year. Even lower margin costs sometimes when other volumes are down chews up fixed costs. So it is part of there's no reduction in pricing and there's no deterioration of our overall margin.

Speaker 4

Okay. So should I view that the higher margin there wasn't much of a pickup in delivery or receipt of higher margin waste stream in the first quarter, but or at the end of the 2014 into the first quarter, but you're going to see that pick up in the Correct. Second and third

Speaker 2

Yes. We had not as much of the higher margin material coming in, in the first quarter, but we expect a and we're already receiving significant amount of that. So

Speaker 4

Okay. And then the second part second question is, I was intrigued by you providing a range of financial guidance. One, glad to hold yourself accountable now for some operating numbers, that's great. But two, is that a function of what you literally said in the release on visibility and confidence? What sort of why now and why are you putting yourself there for the accountability, which we applaud?

But maybe you just talk a little bit about the composition of

Speaker 2

that number. Actually the reality is that we have very good visibility at the moment. Usually, we have one or two quarters. But with the work we see coming, we have very good visibility throughout the year now. So as we look at it, if so in terms of visibility, it's pretty good.

So it's probably better than we've had in a long time. And this goes back we're now almost back to two, three years ago when we could see the waste coming in far in advance. And so we have visibility now with materials coming in.

Speaker 4

Okay. Very good. We look forward to seeing the results and delivering on those numbers. Thank you for your time. Good luck.

Speaker 0

Our next question comes from the line of Bill Chapman with Morgan Stanley.

Speaker 5

I was gonna ask, do you have your own hot cell installed in Poland yet?

Speaker 2

Actually, we're installed in Gainesville, Florida. We're installing a hot Yeah. In Florida. We are in the process of disassembling. We've purchased one and we're going through presently decontamination of it and disassembling to move it to Gainesville.

So we're still in the process.

Speaker 5

Okay. And this, I assume, will accelerate the testing on the generator designs to try to move this to accelerate this process?

Speaker 2

Yes. It will significantly allow us to run tests at our own facilities at higher activities much more rapidly and efficiently.

Speaker 5

Okay. And is the process on the generator testing, you're going I'm not quite sure how I'm not clear on how you're doing this. Are you going from, let's say, one to 1.5 caries, you go to two caries Or is it just a process trying to get to five to six caries, a building process?

Speaker 2

Yes. It's we're slowly working our way up. We're doing a variety of basic tests on the process to build a strong foundation and then move up the activity level. And we're doing that through other means right now, not at facility, but at other facilities. So those tests are going on as we sit.

Speaker 5

Okay. For future partners, this will more than likely be companies that have a use of isotopes, the technetium-ninety nine?

Speaker 2

Correct.

Speaker 5

Or will it be just general investors coming in this?

Speaker 2

I'm sorry, with respect to what now?

Speaker 5

For future partners, will it be more investors just going in or more likely companies that have a need for the Tech 99?

Speaker 2

Well, the Digirad is was an early partner in helping guide us. And so it's we're completing that where they also were very interested investing in the technology. So that should occur in June. We're hoping to be able to close that in June after the shareholder meeting in Poland. From this point on, we most of our focus is on strategic partners at this stage.

We have no plans to we're in pretty good shape from a cash point of view in terms of where we need to go and what we need to do when you factor in the cash we have raised and the grant from the Polish government. So between the two of them, it puts us in a good position for the remainder of the year to get to our goals here. So we have no plans for any other financing at this point. Now to get to the end of FDA approval, we will we may need to do something, but we have a variety of options that we're exploring there. Okay.

Speaker 5

Do you still if all goes well, do you still anticipate FDA filing before the year is up?

Speaker 2

It's a hope. We'll see how all this testing goes. It's our goal. But it will depend on the series of testing we do and where we go.

Speaker 5

And you and you still have consultants that have had can guide you on how to make the application then. Is that is that still accurate?

Speaker 2

Oh, yes. Yes. We have several f FDA consultants we've been working with on the best way to do this.

Speaker 5

Has anything changed with the Chalk River being closed down next year?

Speaker 2

No. They have Chalk River, they've announced they will stop making Tech 99 with uranium. They have not applied for a new license for the reactor. So the reactor in 2018 will be permanently closed. There will be a short period where they continue to do other research on the reactor.

And they have announced they did say that in case of a true emergency in the supply that they might consider redoing it, but that will be somewhat difficult with what they're going through. So at this point, we still see that probably a year, year and a half from now, the NRU reactor will be shut down.

Speaker 5

And the FDA would still have a mandate to possibly fast track your application when you make one?

Speaker 2

A mandate? The FDA

Speaker 3

Well, our yes.

Speaker 2

Maybe that's a nice we'll see. Yes. They've said that. But they have they do have a rigid process they go through. We're working with our partners to look at various ways that we can accelerate our process also.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you very much.

Speaker 0

Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lukop, a private investor.

Speaker 6

Good morning, guys. Good Good morning. I had a quick question. I was encouraged to hear the confidence about Technetium 99 development. But my basic understanding of the process is that it allows a higher concentration of moly ninety nine to be held.

And my basic understanding is it would even be beneficial to the current process, the current source of molybdenum 99 and extending the delivery times for hospitals to you. And even with potential competing technologies being developed, could you explain a bit more about how your generator could benefit fits into the processing? Would it be

Speaker 2

Well, probably the key points are that one, number one, you don't start with uranium. So therefore you it's a much simpler process. You don't have issues with proliferation. You don't have tremendous radiation fields caused by when you irradiate uranium. The other is you don't need a large robust reactor.

You could use just about any research reactor in the world. So you would end up with a much more decentralized system. The would be one of the great advantages. And you would not end up with large volumes of high level nuclear waste that's weapons grade. So it solves many social issues.

It's because of the and from a cost point of view, all the studies we've done, it's very cost competitive and should be even cheaper than uranium systems. The uranium systems do carry some tremendous subsidies with them because of the waste and the production of highly enriched uranium. So the main so our we have tremendous advantages from a cost social distribution point of view. And where we are in the process, we've demonstrated it at lower activities. It's a little low for the North American and European markets.

So we're presently in the process of scaling the process up to produce larger generators that can carry much more Moly-ninety nine and release much more Teck-ninety nine, so that the present pharmacies and hospitals would be more would more easily fit into the present scheme of how the chain works. So with all that, that's basically what we have. We have a very unique system that solves the problem. You start with moly instead of uranium. And we think this could have a fairly dramatic effect on the supply chain that occurred with the Tech ninety nine.

I don't know if that answers your question, but that's sort of a quick overview of what we have.

Speaker 6

Yeah, yeah. So I understand your generator is the part that is kept at the hospital and the Right. Companies deliver the moly to your to a generator at the hospital now, but your resin has more binding sites. So

Speaker 2

Yeah. So we can hold much more moly in our generator. Therefore, it overcomes the when you irradiate moly in a reactor versus uranium, you don't get as pure and as concentrated a material. The advantage of the uranium process is that it produces a very pure, highly concentrated moly-ninety nine material. So to overcome that, had to develop a resin that will hold large amounts of moly compared to the existing resins the existing resins.

And we were able to do that. We made a resin that holds 10 to 20 times as much moly as existing resins. And that then allows us to overcome the uranium advantage.

Speaker 6

Okay. And given that, I see your one competitor, North Star is working on a method?

Speaker 2

Well, North Star is as I've mentioned, as you look around the field, there's a variety of people trying to solve this problem. The company that's probably the furthest along is North Star, which has developed a generator. We think in the end our system is a very good system that could easily compete with theirs or whatever else is dropping for us.

Speaker 6

Okay. So your generator, I guess, final, your generator would even be beneficial to the current process of using highly enriched molybdenum 99

Speaker 2

generator? It might be, but there would be little advantage to using it in the uranium process, at least in the generator. So at least at this point, we don't we could and in developing markets we could. But I'm not sure what the advantage of that would be from a sales point of view. I think the because the present resins they use work real well for the uranium process.

Speaker 6

Okay. I guess that was my the crux of my question was,

Speaker 2

do you

Speaker 6

have any advantage for the current process?

Speaker 2

It probably not.

Speaker 6

Okay. It seems like it's got significant enough advantages all around.

Speaker 2

Oh, yes. No. Our advantage is is the conversion to a to a simpler system.

Speaker 7

Yeah. Great. Great.

Speaker 6

Well, that answers my question. Thanks for your time and good luck in the continued advancement of that technology.

Speaker 2

Thank you. Our

Speaker 0

next question comes from the line of Robert Manning, Private Investor.

Speaker 8

Hi. I just wanted to be sure that I understand NorthStar is mentioned as a competitor, but I understand NorthStar use low enriched uranium. They are not a competitor in the sense that they don't or that they don't do what we do, which is get the uranium out of the supply chain. Am I correct in that? Or is North Star doing something that North also gets uranium out of the supply

Speaker 2

Star has taken a variety of paths. And so it's not clear in the end where they will end up. They basically have can produce moly through a variety of sources. They then collect the nine, and it's a whole different process. What they do is they, in the central facility, they then separate the TEC-ninety nine and send it out.

And that causes they got a very a much different generator that exists in the present today compared to the present generator. So it's a whole different approach. And they've gone down sort of parallel paths with several different ways to use it and make it.

Speaker 8

So they do have a process that can get uranium out of the supply chain. Is that true?

Speaker 2

Yes. They're they they can produce tech 99 from natural moly and then take it to a central facility, concentrate it, and send that out to the to the generators.

Speaker 8

But if they're sending TEK99 out, then they've got this six hour half life decay problem while it's in transit. Is that correct?

Speaker 2

Well, and also while they're processing it back at their facility and then there's a variety of issues with their system.

Speaker 8

But my understanding is that currently what's shipped to a hospital is moly-ninety nine, where you've got whatever it is a thirty hour half life. And that

Speaker 2

the six hour half life doesn't happen until you

Speaker 8

get in the hospital and it sounds like here they've got a much bigger am I correct or not?

Speaker 2

No, no. And I hate to get into that. They've got a very complex technology that they use in their generator system that I'd hate to get into right now. One, because we're it's never been clear exactly how it's going to work publicly. Their system is very complex than what goes to the hospital.

Speaker 8

Now have they applied for FDA approval yet?

Speaker 2

Yes, about a year and a half ago.

Speaker 8

That's with this complicated process and we're a year and a half, they haven't heard back from the FDA?

Speaker 2

Well, they've heard back. I don't know what the But

Speaker 8

they haven't got approved anyway?

Speaker 2

No, they have not been approved. Thank you.

Speaker 4

All right.

Speaker 0

Our next question comes from the line of Joe Bond, Private Investor.

Speaker 7

Yes. I have a couple of questions. You may have answered them but number one, I I I have the impression I've had the impression that, you're gonna go to the market to the European market with this first. And it and and, I mean, you've got this European consortium and you've got this Polish backing and so forth, research. So I'm I'm I'm guessing I'm assuming that you're gonna sell this product to Europe first and then to United States.

Speaker 2

No, that hasn't been decided yet. As we're going down the path, we're going down parallel paths. The two approval processes are very similar. Our thought is probably to come back to The U. S.

With the process first. But that decision hasn't been made. It's somewhat of a parallel path as we're generating the information. We're on parallel paths here, both understanding what the EU's regulatory process is and what The US North American process is.

Speaker 7

Okay. The other question I had is, you are trying to scale up this process. Right? And I'm just wondering, that seems to be the biggest impediment right now. I mean, once you get past that hurdle and once you scale it up to whatever scale that you need, I mean, that, it's pretty clear sailing.

I'm just wondering how far in the future oh, what are you anticipating? How long it will take for you to scale this up?

Speaker 2

Well, the the the scale up is is, you know, as I've described it in the past, and let me just do this once more here so everyone understands, is that what we had found early on was that we had designed our process, our initially that we demonstrated for about what an existing amount of resin in an existing generator. So we had basically copied the existing units and said we need about one gram of resin in the generator. And that's what we went through all our testing with and what we demonstrated with. Well, when Digirad got involved with this, they looked at it and said, that's wonderful, but you're going to have a hard sell in The U. S.

And North America with that size generator. What you really need is something much larger. Well, the technology really is that to get a one, one point five curie generator, we needed about one gram of material. So to get a two curie or three curie generator, we need about two grams in that generator, which sounds so in one way it's a kind of a simple scale up. You just need twice as much material.

And so of course in these systems nothing is ever simple. And what we're going through is there's several ways we can scale the unit up and we're going through all the different ways to look at what effect that has and to then demonstrate a scaled up unit, which just means you have more resin and more moly 99 in that generator. And the issues just become because you then have a larger radiation field, therefore, is there any detrimental effects from the greater radiation field? We don't think there will be. And so that's where the technology we're we're those are the steps we're going through today.

Speaker 7

So it's not a question it's not a question of can you do it. It's a question of, how safely and how cost effective how safely and how cost effectively you're going to do it, right?

Speaker 2

You're trying to It's figure out the actually a question of what's the geometry of the new of a larger generator with this kind of technology. So it's how do you put it together? How do you increase the size of the column? We're our hope is all you do is just double the size or triple the size and you have a larger generator.

Speaker 7

So, I mean, you're working on this right now. So what do you anticipate? When when are you gonna have some idea of how you're gonna proceed?

Speaker 2

We're we're we're hoping that we can talk to you in three or four months that we've now completed work on a model. Yes, a scalable model, right. Good words.

Speaker 7

Yeah. And okay. And so, again, once you this seems to be a major hurdle. Once you've passed this hurdle, it's fairly smooth sailing after that?

Speaker 2

Nothing has been smooth sailing.

Speaker 7

Well, no. I mean, okay. I mean, that's your last major hurdle, right?

Speaker 2

Well, there'll be a variety of then issues to deal with, which we think will be simpler, dealing then with developing the data that the regulatory agents require, which is really where the grant comes in. It will be then the major vehicle to generate that. We'll be generating it in Poland, but it will be we'll be doing it under the kind of standards that North American, either the f the FDA could could accept.

Speaker 7

You know, I'm I'm just wondering why why the the Polish were so receptive to you and, you know, why you ended up over there posting on their going on their stock market?

Speaker 2

The it's an interesting question. In fact, the Polish asked me the same question. There were a variety of reasons. Number one, we had been working with Pol Adam, which is one of the largest reactors in Europe that and they have a generator and they manufacture it using uranium. So we had them as a partner.

Two, when we tried to raise money in The U. S. To spin this off, we had a very hard time. It was very early in the process. The medical field was venture capital very, very difficult, almost impossible for us.

And then on the grant side, there is pretty much a Congress did fund some companies to do this. But when they funded them, they said the U. S. Government is not funding anymore. So they actually put a ban on the government providing any assistance for these technologies.

So the opposite is true in Europe. Europe was very focused on biotech and doing work there. And so to be honest with you, we saw an opportunity there that and so really went where the money was. And the technical expertise in Poland.

Speaker 7

Okay. My final question then. We heard about one competitor this morning and then you just mentioned government funding for companies over here prior to you coming on. So we heard about one competitor. Are there any competitors that there I imagine there's other people working on this, any of them that you know that are far along in the process in their development?

Speaker 2

No. The only one that North Star was funded by DOE. I think DOE gave them $25,000,000 The and they're the furthest along. We think our system is much simpler and will be more cost effective and more acceptable to the present chain. The others, when you look at the others, there's no one who's made much progress.

And most of them require a tremendous amount of money. There are people out there that are proposing to build new nuclear reactors in The United States to supply. So you can imagine how much money that's going to cost how

Speaker 7

long How long? They

Speaker 2

Yeah. And if they could even ever do it. And then the Canadian government has put a lot of money into cyclotron work, but I don't have a lot of faith that that will ever really be a commercial process. And they haven't made a lot of progress. And there's other technologies that are like that, that require hundreds of millions of dollars worth of money and there's really not been a lot of progress.

So I only see one real potential competitor out there. Well, there's two. One is the present suppliers are switching to lower enriched uranium, but that still requires uranium. It's much more expensive than the present process and produce lots more waste and still is the uranium process and the need for a specialized reactor. So those are the what we see going on in the market.

We really only see North Star as a you might say a real competitor.

Speaker 7

Does does the DOT buy any of this stuff from you? I mean, it is there government contracts involved in any of this?

Speaker 2

Well, you know, all the government hospitals, yes, and they've they've given special pricing for non uranium systems. So there is a pricing advantage at the hospitals on the government side.

Speaker 7

What I was wondering about is, whether the government might, in the end, approve both you and North Star Or what is it? Would just go with the person that has the lowest, the most cost effective?

Speaker 2

I don't think the government this will be a private decision. The government will not distinguish they'll approve anybody that meets the standards and really allow the market to decide who's best.

Speaker 7

Okay. Listen, thank you. I appreciate it.

Speaker 0

Mr. Santofani, there are no further questions at this time. Would you like to make any closing remarks?

Speaker 2

Well, I thank you all. We look forward to the next call and appreciate your support and confidence at the moment. So thank you very much.

Speaker 0

This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.