The Canadian government has unveiled plans to sell Atomic Energy of Canada's (AECL) nuclear reactor business to the private sector, adding a new wrinkle to a crisis that is threatening most of North America's supply of molybdenum-99.
CTV News reports that the restructuring will separate AECL's aging National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, from the agency's CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactor business. The CANDU reactors were developed in the late 1950s and 1960s through a partnership between AECL and the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
Under the plan, a private sector partner would manage the currently offline NRU reactor, according to the news report. The cost of building and servicing nuclear reactors is so expensive that Canada needs partners in the endeavor, the report quotes Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt as saying.
Two weeks ago, the Ontario government announced that AECL was the lead bidder on a contract to build two new nuclear reactors in the province. CTV News reports that AECL's future is dependant on the $28 billion contract.
Ottawa also must address the future of the 50-year-old NRU reactor, which provides the majority of radioisotopes used for radiopharmaceuticals in North America, including the commonly used molybdenum-99, the precursor to technetium-99m.
CTV News cited senior officials as saying the Chalk River reactor cannot be repaired, while AECL officials this week estimated that the reactor would be closed for as long as three months.
Related Reading
AECL reactor down 'at least three months,' May 29, 2009
AECL ponders Chalk River repairs, May 26, 2009
Hospitals brace for shortage of medical isotopes, May 22, 2009
Reimbursement, molybdenum-99 shortage top SNM agenda, May 22, 2009
Report: Chalk River reactor future in doubt, May 21, 2009
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