On July 30, Society President Rebecca Caron participated in the announcement of a $35 million federal government investment to support the installation of a second medical isotope production system (IPS) at Bruce Power’s CANDU Unit 6 reactor. The installation will allow for a significant increase in the plant’s ability to produce the medical isotope lutetium-177, used in targeted cancer therapies.
Medical isotopes are currently produced in all three nuclear generating stations in Ontario – at Bruce, Pickering and Darlington nuclear stations – as well as at the nuclear research reactor at McMaster University.
Medical isotopes save lives, and CANDU reactors are uniquely designed to produce isotopes in vast quantities, at the same time as they produce low carbon electricity. The production, processing and distribution of medical isotopes currently supports 8,500 jobs in Canada and includes Ontario’s power and research reactors, as well as a network of specialized nuclear supply chain companies and healthcare entities, most of which are located in Ontario.
Life-saving medical isotopes have continued to be one of the most consequential tools doctors have available to diagnose and treat cancer over the past century, and many of these isotopes are now coming from Ontario’s nuclear generating stations. Every year, there are more than 40 million medical procedures performed globally using isotopes, with approximately 36 million for diagnostic nuclear medicine and four million for radiation therapy.
