Atomic Energy of Canada's (AECL) Chalk River reactor went back online Tuesday afternoon, February 17, as scheduled. The reactor had experienced an unplanned, temporary shutdown on February 15 to repair the mechanism to extract medical isotope rods from the reactor.
AECL noted that medical isotope production was maintained throughout the unscheduled outage; however, output will remain at a reduced level for the next four days.
AECL estimates that this week's supply of molybdenum-99 for delivery to its primary buyer, MDS Nordion of Ottawa, Ontario, will be approximately 2,500 curies, or approximately six times the average weekly demand for the Canadian market.
Related Reading
Chalk River closes again temporarily, February 17, 2009
Report: Canada's isotope supply 'fragile,' January 29, 2009
Report: Use of low-enriched uranium in medical isotopes is feasible, January 15, 2009
NRCG reactor will be down longer, December 22, 2008
Belgium to restart medical isotope production, November 5, 2008
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