A countrywide shortage of radioactive isotopes could become more critical following news that the Ontario nuclear reactor that produces them could be shut down until mid-January.
Thousands of patients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries are having their medical tests postponed because of the plant closure, which had initially been scheduled for one week for maintenance repairs.
The government-run Chalk River reactor supplies more than two-thirds of the world's demand for medical radioactive isotopes, which are used to diagnose cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Once injected into patients, the radioactive isotopes allow nuclear imaging equipment to produce detailed scans of the body.
"We have one supplier for a product that is in routine use across the globe and especially in Canada and North America," said Dr. Sandor Demeter, of the Canadian Society for Nuclear Medicine.
"With no contingency in place, if that particular supplier goes down, we're left phenomenally vulnerable."
The planned maintenance shutdown of the 50-year-old reactor was supposed to last from Nov. 18 to Nov. 23, but safety problems persist.
The shutdown, now in its third week, could stretch until mid-January, according to the isotopes' distributor.
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Thousands of patients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries are having their medical tests postponed because of the plant closure, which had initially been scheduled for one week for maintenance repairs.
The government-run Chalk River reactor supplies more than two-thirds of the world's demand for medical radioactive isotopes, which are used to diagnose cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Once injected into patients, the radioactive isotopes allow nuclear imaging equipment to produce detailed scans of the body.
"We have one supplier for a product that is in routine use across the globe and especially in Canada and North America," said Dr. Sandor Demeter, of the Canadian Society for Nuclear Medicine.
"With no contingency in place, if that particular supplier goes down, we're left phenomenally vulnerable."
The planned maintenance shutdown of the 50-year-old reactor was supposed to last from Nov. 18 to Nov. 23, but safety problems persist.
The shutdown, now in its third week, could stretch until mid-January, according to the isotopes' distributor.
Full story
Have you been affected by this? Is there any way this could have been avoided?
More...