Bruce Power has successfully produced medical grade isotopes in their new production system.
In a release, Bruce Power says a partnership between themselves, Isogen and Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), announced today a milestone marking the first instance of lutetium-177, a short-lived medical isotope, being produced in a commercial nuclear power reactor. It was done using a new Isotope Production System (IPS) that was installed in Bruce Power’s Unit 7 during a recent planned maintenance outage. Lutetium-177 is a "medical isotope used in precision oncology for targeted therapy of a growing number of cancers. Lutetium-177 based treatments are designed to precisely target malignant cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissues."
Bruce Power will market the new isotope in a partnership with Saugeen Ojibway Nation, which includes an equity stake for SON and a revenue-sharing program that provides a direct benefit to the community. The isotopes will be shared with medical facilities around the world.
“Bruce Power and our partners at Isogen, ITM, and Saugeen Ojibway Nation are thrilled to have reached this exciting milestone, bringing our partnership project to its final phase as we complete commissioning and approach commercial operations,” shares James Scongack, Bruce Power’s Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President, Operational Services. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of hard work by hundreds of dedicated people and we are proud to demonstrate the power of using Bruce Power’s CANDU reactors to provide large-scale, reliable production of critical medical isotopes to use in the fight against cancer.”