Ontario invests $18M to boost isotope production

TORONTO – The Ontario government is investing $18 million to increase production of life-saving medical isotopes at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor in Hamilton.

The investment will expand operations to 24 hours a day, seven days a week and help to create 16 new jobs, along with producing custom medical isotopes for up to 84,000 treatments annually.

Each year, medical isotopes from McMaster provide treatment for approximately 70,000 cancer patients around the world.

“We all know someone who has been impacted by cancer, and that timely, cutting-edge treatment is critical to their recovery,” said Nolan Quinn (pictured), minister of colleges, universities, research excellence and security.

“This investment will ensure that the McMaster Nuclear Reactor can operate at maximum capacity, producing more medical isotopes and bringing more life-saving cancer treatments to market, to our hospitals and to our loved ones.”

With more than 247,000 Canadians diagnosed with cancer each year, and two of every five Canadians developing cancer during their lifetime, the demand for precision radiopharmaceuticals is increasing, and so is the need for large-scale production of key isotopes.

To meet the demand, the government recently announced the Nuclear Isotope Innovation Council of Ontario, a new expert advisory panel that will help leverage Ontario’s nuclear fleet to double the number of medical isotopes produced in the province over the next four years.

Medical isotopes are currently produced in all three nuclear generating stations in Ontario – at Bruce, Pickering and Darlington nuclear stations – as well as in the nuclear research reactor at McMaster University.

The production, processing and distribution of medical isotopes currently supports 8,500 jobs in Canada and includes Ontario’s power and research reactors, as well as a network of specialized nuclear supply chain companies and healthcare entities, most of which are located in Ontario.

With major refurbishments underway at the Darlington, Bruce and potentially Pickering nuclear generating stations – and the first of its kind small modular reactor being built at Darlington – Ontario is uniquely positioned to grow its share of the fast-expanding isotope market that is projected to support thousands of jobs and save millions of lives globally.

Life-saving medical isotopes have continued to be one of the most consequential tools doctors have available to diagnose and treat cancer over the past century, and many of these isotopes are now coming from Ontario’s nuclear generating stations.

Every year, there are more than 40 million medical procedures performed globally using isotopes, with approximately 36 million for diagnostic nuclear medicine and four million for radiation therapy.