Chalk River can meet possible isotope shortfall: AECL
It emerged that a nuclear reactor in the Netherlands that produces a percentage of isotopes for medical use in Canada has been temporarily shut down.
All five reactors around the world that make the isotopes – including the one at Chalk River – are currently offline for unrelated reasons.
About 20 per cent of Canada's medical isotopes come from overseas.
Dale Coffin of the AECL says if a shortfall occurs, the Chalk River facility can ramp up production to meet Canadian needs.
Chalk River, which supplies about 80 per cent of Canada's medical isotopes, is undergoing scheduled maintenance but is expected to be back up and running by August 29.
Related News
Covid-19 is reshaping the electric rhythms of New York City
NEW YORK - At his post 150 miles up the Hudson, Jon Sawyer watches as a stay-at-home New York City stirs itself with each new dawn in this era of covid-19.
He’s a manager in the system that dispatches electricity throughout New York state, keeping homes lit and hospitals functioning, work that is so essential that he, along with 36 colleagues, has been sequestered away from home and family for going on four weeks now, to avoid the disease.
The hour between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. once saw the city bounding to life. A sharp spike would erupt on the system’s…
