(Photo submitted by Bruce Power)(Photo submitted by Bruce Power)
Midwestern

Bruce Power Part of Global Alternative Treatment For Brain Tumours

Bruce Power and an Ontario-based global partner will make life better for certain brain tumour patients.

Bruce Power and Nordion have teamed up on a new initiative that will see medical-grade High Specific Activity Cobalt produced in the four Bruce B reactors.

HSA Cobalt is used worldwide for alternative treatments to traditional brain surgery and radiation therapy for the treatment of complex brain conditions.   This innovative tool uses gamma radiation to focus 200 microscopic beams of radiation on a tumour or other target.

This partnership will provide a stable supply of HSA for decades.

"HSA Cobalt is at the forefront of innovative new medical technologies, so we’re excited to be part of the supply chain for this life-saving radiation therapy," says Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s president and CEO.  "As a long-time supplier of Cobalt-60, we have long been helping to keep our hospitals safe for our most vulnerable citizens. Now, with HSA Cobalt being harvested from our Bruce B reactors, we will have a greater impact on human health across the globe."

Pierre Pilon, Senior Vice President, Bruce B, said it’s a tremendous honour to be part of a solution to provide medical isotopes for Canada.

"Our Engineering teams here have worked very hard to ensure there is absolutely no impact or changes in how we operate and maintain our units," Pilon says.

Bruce Power will continue to supply Nordion with a supply of Cobalt-60, which Nordion uses to sterilize 40% of the world’s single-use medical devices such as gloves, masks, and syringes.

Nordion is a leading provider of medical isotopes and gamma technologies used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease and infection.   It's products are used daily by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical-device manufacturers, hospitals, clinics and research laboratories in more than 40 counties.

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