Canada's Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt said the government wants Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) to restart the Chalk River, Ontario, nuclear reactor sooner than AECL's three-month timetable to repair the facility.
In a June 18 interview with CTV.ca, Raitt said the Canadian government would "like things to move faster" in order for Chalk River to again produce medical isotopes and relieve the current global shortage, adding that AECL must "take the appropriate safety precautions to get it done."
The Chalk River reactor has been offline since mid-May to repair a heavy water leak.
Earlier this month, AECL President and CEO Hugh MacDiarmid told a House of Commons committee that repairs could take longer than three months, delaying the restart of Chalk River beyond mid-August.
Exacerbating the angst over the current global isotope shortage is the planned shutdown of the Petten nuclear reactor in the Netherlands next month for scheduled maintenance.
Raitt said Canada has been in contact with Dutch officials about their schedule and with France and Belgium about how to make up for the decrease in supply.
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