Emergency Legislation Passed by Canadians to Reopen Reactor
The Ontario nuclear reactor that manufactures the majority of the isotopes in the world used for nuclear imaging studies was recently closed due to safety maintenance. The Canadian House of Commons passed emergency legislation to reopen the facility. The news was reported by Health Imaging.
The legislation crafted calls for support from all parties in order to override the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) recommendation for closure. To vet the legislation, the House of Commons called for testimony from experts, some of whom described the safety concerns. With that information, the House still supported re-opening the facility. In light of the new bill, the CNSC oversight of the facility will be suspended for 120 days.
The legislation must still obtain the approval of the Canadian Senate. One member of the Canadian Parliament noted that the intent of the legislation is not to reduce the standards associated with nuclear safety.
The close of the facility was recently reported by Hospital Buyer. In light of the closure, AMIC has stepped up their efforts to create isotopes. However, delivery of such products is unlikely to be available until March 2008.
December 20, 2007 Related topics: Legal & legislative, Nuclear Medicine