Chalk River Laboratories is due to start producing medical isotopes in the near future, having undergone extensive repairs, upgrades, and conversion to use low-enriched uranium. Triumf, the home of ARIEL, is in the forefront of research to find ways of producing useful quantities of medical isotopes using minimal or no uranium. A "clone" of the Chalk River research reactor, CiRUS, was used to produce plutonium for Project Smiling Buddha, India's first atomic bomb.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Funding_for_Canadian_isotope-producing_accelerator-2906107.html">Funding for Canadian isotope-producing acceleratorA new advanced electron linear accelerator facility that will be able to produce medical isotopes will go ahead with the announcement of funding from the government of British Columbia.
The C$62.9 million ($60 million) Advanced Rare Isotope Laboratory, given the acronym Ariel, will be built at the Triumf subatomic physics laboratory in Vancouver. It will feature an underground beam tunnel surrounding a state-of-the-art electron linear accelerator (e-linac) capable of producing what Triumf describes as one of the most powerful beams in the world, with up to 500 kW of electron beam power. Ariel will use an e-linac that relies on superconducting radiofrequency technology to accelerate particles close to the speed of light and will provide Canada with a facility that will be at the forefront of particle and nuclear physics, according to British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell.
Construction work on the facility is due to get under way in July 2010, with the e-linac due to be installed in 2013. The facility will be commissioned for isotope production in 2014 with routine 'round the clock' operation by 2015, according to Triumf, which is a joint venture of Canadian universities supported in its operations by the national government and in its building infrastructure by the provincial government of British Columbia.
Most of the world's medical isotopes are currently supplied by nuclear research reactors. Over recent years, routine and unexpected outages at the world's increasingly ageing isotope production reactors have put increasing pressure on medical supplies. Isotope suppliers have worked together to minimise the impact, and moves are under way to build new production capacity at Petten in the Netherlands.
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http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Funding_for_Canadian_isotope-producing_accelerator-2906107.html">Source: World Nuclear Association --d!
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