MAPLE Reactors Could Solve the Isotope Crisis within 24 months

OTTAWA, July 30 /CNW/ - MDS Nordion, a leading provider of medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, has submitted a Proposal to the Government of Canada's Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope and Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) Generator Production. MDS Nordion believes that the best answer to the shortage of medical radioisotopes is the completion and bringing into service of the MAPLE project. The MDS Nordion Proposal outlines technical and regulatory requirements needed for the provision of a secure supply of medical isotopes for the health care system in Canada and around the world.

With no domestic or international sources of supply that can fully mitigate the current global shortage of medical isotopes, MDS Nordion urges Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) to complete the MAPLE project to address this shortage. With expertise and guidance from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), owner and operator of the SAFARI-1 reactor, and working with AECL, MDS Nordion believes a solution could be achieved in an estimated 24 months.

"MDS Nordion is a solutions oriented Company with strong technical and regulatory expertise. We look forward to working with Necsa on the next stages of this proposal," said Steve West, President of MDS Nordion. "We believe this approach provides a good path forward to bring the MAPLEs into service and provide a long-term supply of medical isotopes for Canadians. This goal is of utmost importance and we are also supportive of other proposals which may provide this critical supply."

Project Description

MDS Nordion urges AECL to honour its long-standing commitment to replace the National Research Universal (NRU) by bringing the MAPLE facilities into service. This can be done through AECL collaborating with Necsa on the adaption of the OSCAR computer codes, which are successfully used by the world's leading isotope producing reactors. The computer codes are specifically designed to model research reactor performance and operation and are being used by the High Flux Reactor in Petten, Netherlands, and SAFARI-1, in South Africa. Adopting the OSCAR computer codes could be essential to resolving the existing discrepancy between the predicted and measured value of the power coefficient of reactivity of the MAPLE reactors allowing them to be licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for safe operation.

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