‘We produce hope’: Nuclear reactors produce more than just electricity

Example of one of the aluminum “targets” inserted into Bruce Power’s nuclear reactors to create medical isotopes. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

24 hours a day, Bruce Power covers about 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity needs. But on an almost weekly basis, they may be doing something even more important.

“It’s quite a feeling to be able to produce a product, a cancer fighting product. We also like to say that we produce hope here as well,” said Paul Keelan, a Nuclear Operator in charge of Isotope Production at the Bruce B Nuclear station near Kincardine.

For 35 years, Bruce Power has been carefully inserting aluminum “targets” into their nuclear reactors, to become irradiated, and transformed into medical isotopes. In the late 80s, they started producing Cobalt-60, used to sterilize medical equipment.

“If you look at the supply of Cobalt-60 from Bruce Power, we’re easily producing one-third of the world’s Cobalt-60. If you combine what we produce with what Pickering Nuclear produces, we’re easily 70 to 80 per cent of the world’s Cobalt-60,” said James Scongack, Bruce Power’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.

40 per cent of the world’s single use medical equipment is sterilized by Cobalt-60 produced at the Kincardine area nuclear plant.

Seeing a worldwide shortage looming, a few years ago, Bruce Power decided to start producing another kind of medical isotope called Lutetium-177. It’s used to treat prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours, with 200 clinical trials underway to expand its use for the targeted treatment of lung and breast cancer. Bruce Power is the first and only commercial nuclear facility in the world producing Lutetium.

“Typically, short lived medical isotopes were made with research reactors that didn’t have the same degree of reliability, or the long life that these commercial nuclear units do,” said Scongack.

“So, we’ve really changed the game. Working with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation and Isogen to produce short lived medical isotopes in a power reactor.”

Since 2022 when they started, Bruce Power has twice doubled their production capability of Lutetium, now producing about one-third of the world’s supply of the cancer-fighting medical isotope.

“We started out with one port or tube into the unit to be able to produce the product. We’ve expanded that to two, and hopefully things continue to expand from there,” said Keelan, who has been part of the Isotope production team at Bruce Power for several years.

Currently, the isotopes harvested from Bruce Power’s reactors, are shipped to Germany for final processing, but that will change soon, as at least some isotope processing will happen right on the Bruce Power site, with the introduction of a Hot Cell facility. A way to, at least partly, “repatriate” isotope production.

“This is a strategic component to long term energy security around the world. We cannot let medical isotopes be a geopolitical weapon,” said Scongack.

“The Canadian flag flies as a very proud flag internationally. And when people look at Canada, we want them to be able to count on us for those lifesaving isotopes,”

Scongack says it cost about $200 million to build and implement Bruce Power’s entire isotope production system, a drop in the bucket, considering a single nuclear reactor costs upwards of $10 billion to build.

“I always say isotopes may only be one per cent of our cash flow, but it’s 50 per cent of the contribution we make. We feel that there’s a responsibility that by operating this asset, we’re making the best we can with it,” he said.

“Yes, electricity is 99 per cent of our business from a balance sheet perspective, but isotopes are very important contribution.”

Largely through the efforts at Bruce Power, Ontario wants to see medical isotope production, doubled by the province’s nuclear fleet by 2030.