Fifteen months after being shutdown for repairs, Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) yesterday powered up its National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, to begin medical isotope production.
AECL expects to ship its first supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) this week. The reactor manufactures approximately half of the Mo-99 supply for North America.
The 53-year-old reactor has been offline since May 2009, when a major water leak was discovered. Repairs began in December 2009 and were completed less than a month ago, when testing on the facility began.
AECL concluded successful low-power testing on the NRU reactor yesterday and brought the unit to full power later in the day to begin Mo-99 production.
Related Reading
AECL's NRU could restart next week, August 13, 2010
AECL progresses toward restart, August 5, 2010
AECL delays NRU restart to mid-August, July 30, 2010
AECL: NRU restart still on schedule, July 16, 2010
SNM: Long-term Mo-99 problems remain, July 8, 2010
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