Canada Extends NRU’s Medical Isotope Operations Until 2018

Canada extended late last week the operations of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor an additional two years, the Minister of Natural Resources Greg Rickford announced. Canada had intended on stopping government funding in 2016 on the NRU reactor, one of the world’s largest suppliers of molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m, which have caused a global shortage of the medical isotope used in millions of procedures annually. This extension, though, appears to be an attempt by Canada to help support global medical isotope demand between 2016 and 2018 in the unexpected circumstances of shortages, Rickford said. “Since announcing our plans to restructure our nuclear laboratories, our government has acted responsibly to ensure the security of supply of medical isotopes,” Rickford said in a statement. “Our support for this extension demonstrates our ongoing commitment to a responsible transition of our laboratories that supports global medical isotope supply.”

 

NRU’s anticipated shutdown has led to a slew of startups —eight –to-nine companies have already sent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission letters of intent to submit construction authorization licenses for a potential Moly-99 production facility— looking to fill the lucrative medical isotope void. Most, if not all, of these companies have a timeline for the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 to reaching production capabilities, and with many saying they could produce up to 50 percent of the industry demand, it appears there will not be room for all these companies. The additional two years from the NRU reactor should alleviate any transitional period from NRU’s shutdown to commercial production.