Historic agreement doubles cancer fighting partnership between Indigenous group, nuclear plant

A historic agreement between Bruce Power and Indigenous groups will double the production of medical isotopes. Scott Miller reports.

A $250 million loan guarantee from the Ontario government will allow a local Indigenous group to partner with the world’s largest nuclear plant to try and rid the world of cancer.

“If we believe the researchers we are working with, 80 per cent of the cancers we have to deal with right now, either you won’t have it because of a vaccine, or we will be able to cure them in less than one week, due to the treatments that are being developed right here,” said Bruce Power CEO and President Eric Chassard.

Since 2019, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation and Bruce Power have partnered on a revenue sharing agreement around medical isotope production at the eight-reactor nuclear plant, located within Saugeen territory.

One isotope can sterilize medical equipment, while another is used to treat cancer. A plan to more than double isotope production meant the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) needed capital. The provincial government, with $250 million from the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program, will guarantee the debt SON raised to fund their partnership stake in Bruce Power’s isotope production program.

“It’s just a loan that guarantees our participation. So, there wasn’t really any kind of financial risk to any of our communities, regardless of the outcome of the partnership; SON would continue to get their dividends from that project,” said Saugeen First Nation Chief Conrad Ritchie.

A separate revenue sharing agreement providing $10 million per year in direct community payments from Bruce Power to SON, along with the medical isotope partnership, will be worth $64 million to both the Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation by 2035, with escalating dividends moving forward.

“We’ve had long standing concerns of being excluded from the benefits from the nuclear industry operating in our territory. Benefits the area is receiving, and others are receiving. So, we’re working our way toward good relations,” said Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Acting Chief Jessica Keeshig-Martin.

“I think it’s very important because it will generate revenue for our communities. It’s an expansion that it aligns with our vision and our values,” added Ritchie of the Saugeen First Nation, which together with the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, create the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.

The loan guarantee is the largest Ontario has given any Indigenous group since creating the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program was founded in 2009, says Ontario’s Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy.

“A quarter of $1 billion, the largest that I’m aware of, certainly in Ontario’s history, and perhaps in Canadian history,” said Bethlenfalvy.

Currently, Bruce Power makes 80 per cent of the medical isotopes that sterilize medical equipment around the globe. But the kind of isotope they’ll be ramping up production of with this new partnership will focus on targeted cancer treatment. It’s called Lutetium-177, which will now also be processed at Bruce Power, instead of being shipped out to Germany for processing.

“Instead of sending this to Germany, we will be able to process this right on site. Also, what we will be using this $250 million of investment to do is to increase our ability to process what is just coming out of the reactor so that we can go faster to the patient. Why does it matter? Because this type of isotope, the sooner you use it, the more efficient it is. So, speed matters,” said Chassard.

“Nuclear power isn’t just about keeping the lights on 24/7. It’s about saving a lot of family’s lives. So, this is an investment in our health, in our economy, and, yes, in repatriating investment that otherwise would have gone to Germany to process those isotopes. We are now doing some of the processing here at home,” said Ontario Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce.

Lecce says the new isotope partnership expansion at Bruce Power will create 200 to 300 new direct and indirect jobs and help Ontario reach it’s goal to double medical isotope production across the province by 2030.