WORLD BRIEFING / CANADA
- Share via
Canadian officials have again shut down a nuclear reactor that produces about half the world’s radioactive isotopes used to diagnose cancer and heart patients through medical imaging.
Patients seeking such tests may have a longer wait as hospitals try to conserve a scarce supply of isotopes, doctors say.
The latest shutdown of an Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, is expected to last about a month as technicians repair a leak of heavy water. AECL said the reactor was shut down last Thursday after a power outage. The leak was discovered shortly after that.
The 52-year-old reactor was ordered closed by Canada’s nuclear regulator in 2007 until mandated safety upgrades had been completed. The nearly monthlong shutdown sparked a critical global shortage of medical isotopes and ended only when Canada’s Parliament voted to bypass the order.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
