OTTAWA — By 2016, Canada will produce commercial quantities of medical isotopes without the controversial use of highly-enriched, weapons-grade uranium, the federal government has pledged.
The announcement follows news that Canada will ship 23,000 litres of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) liquid isotope waste to the United States, where President Barack Obama has made global civilian HEU reduction and repatriation one of his administration’s national security priorities.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, speaking Thursday to an Ottawa gathering of the Canadian Nuclear Association, said $25 million in additional federal funding is being awarded to three promising Canadian projects that use cyclotrons and linear accelerators in the production of life-saving technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used medical isotope in the world.
Later with reporters, Oliver said the new isotope production technologies have been proven, but “what needs to be established is the production of a large amount that will be commercially available and we’re encouraged by the progress so far, it’s reached a fairly robust stage.�
Asked whether the new technologies can ensure a secure, commercial supply, Oliver said “we’re comfortable we can meet those objectives by 2016.�
Oliver also announced the government will “shortly� open a “competitive procurement process� to select a private-sector partner to manage and operate Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s (AECL) nuclear laboratories at Chalk River. Much of the world’s supply of raw medical isotopes is manufactured inside the site’s aging NRU research reactor using fresh, non-irradiated HEU imported from the U.S. NRU is to cease isotope production in 2016.
The Crown corporation saw its CANDU reactor division sold in 2011 to Candu Energy Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group.
“We are not selling or closing the Chalk River nuclear laboratories,� Oliver told several hundred delegates representing Canada’s nuclear establishment.
Under an arrangement known as a government-owned, contractor-operated, or GoCo, “the new model aims to bring private-sector rigour and efficiencies to the management of the laboratories and the goal of creating commercial opportunities and reducing the financial costs and risk for Canadian taxpayers,� he said.
He was unable, however, to say how much money the government will save under a partnership, which is expected to take about two years to put in place.
“Our government is committed to providing industry access to AECL’s expertise but we are also committed to taxpayers and that’s why over time the delivery of AECL’s science and technology services to industry will need to move to full costs recovery.�
The first priority of the new AECL will be to deal with the enormous toxic legacy at Chalk River and other AECL sites, he said.
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