Canada’s Bruce Power has completed delivery of the company’s largest ever harvest of cobalt-60, which is widely used to sterilise medical equipment and in treatment of cancer. The medical isotopes were delivered to Ottawa-based Nordion for processing and distribution and will be shipped to global markets. James Scongack, Bruce Power’s Executive Vice-President & Chief Development Officer noted that Bruce Power has been supplying cobalt-60 for more than 35 years.
The completed harvest is Bruce Power’s largest since production began in the 1980s. It included two shipments of High Specific Activity (HSA) cobalt-60, a medical-grade cobalt-60 used in the treatment of specialised brain tumours and breast cancers through non-invasive procedures. “Cobalt-60 is critical for supporting global health care,” said Riaz Bandali, President of Nordion. “Reliability of supply is key and Bruce Power continues to be a valued partner, supplying cobalt-60 for nearly 40 years”
After the cobalt-60 harvest, which was completed during a planned maintenance outage of unit 8, Bruce Power installed system innovations to increase the production of cobalt-60 for the next harvest. Bruce Power, formed in 2001, is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers’ Union and The Society of United Professionals.
Image: The cobalt-60 harvest was completed during a planned maintenance outage of Bruce Power Unit 8 reactor (courtesy of Bruce Power)
