They're the backbone of nuclear medicine. Medical isotopes — tiny radioactive particles that can be injected into the body — have become the standard treatment for some cancers. They've also brought medical imaging to new levels.
Shown is a warning sign outside of the nuclear reactor at the Atomic Energy Canada Limited plant in Chalk River, Ontario, Wednesday, December 19 2007. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)And much of the world's supply is produced in Canada.
The National Research Universal (NRU) reactor went fully online at Chalk River, Ont., on Nov. 3, 1957. It has been used for scientific research, including the development of nuclear medicine. It remains the biggest single source in the world of the isotope cobalt-60, which has been used in cancer treatment for more than half a century.
Chalk River's importance gained worldwide attention in 2007 when the reactor was taken offline for maintenance, causing a worldwide shortage of medical isotopes. And it was underscored again in August 2008 when the other four major producers of isotopes - reactors in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and South Africa — all scheduled maintenance and refuelling stops within weeks of each other.
Reactors in all five countries are at least 40 years old — and showing their age.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. shut down the NRU reactor again on May 14, 2009, after the power went out in parts of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. The next day, officials detected a heavy water leak at the base of the reactor vessel in a place where there is corrosion. Source.
