Bruce Power has set out its plans to expand production of medical radioisotopes in its Candu reactors. As well as increasing long-term lutetium-177 production capacity, the company also wants to explore the production of other isotopes using its proprietary system.
Following on from the completion of two years' commercial production of lutetium-177 (Lu-177) using the Isotope Production System (IPS) at Bruce 7, the company set out its intentions in a 31 October letter to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The system has proven its safety and reliability, the company said, with no missed shipments since launch. A second production line on Bruce 7's IPS is now in service, doubling production capacity. Lu-177 is used to treat certain tumours and prostate cancer.
Bruce Power said it now plans to add an additional Isotope Production System on unit 6 in 2027 to increase long-term capacity and also maintain production when Bruce 7 is taken offline for its Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage which is scheduled for 2028-2031. The company will also evaluate the feasibility of a third Isotope Production System (IPS) at the Bruce A plant (Bruce units 1-4), to be installed in 2029.
Units 5-8 - known as the Bruce B reactors - also produce cobalt-60 which is used for sterilisation and the treatment of brain tumours and breast cancer. The MCR and outage programme at Bruce B "is both securing the supply of cobalt-60 through 2064, and installed modifications have increased production", the company told the CNSC.
Bruce Power said it is "committed to exploring additional isotope production using our system and plans to propose an amendment to its operating licence to add multiple new isotopes in a bounding approach for the IPS". It intends to submit a licence amendment for multiple new isotopes in 2025.
Investing locally
Bruce Power partnered with Isogen (a jointly owned company of Kinectrics Inc and Framatome Canada) to install the Isotope Production System on Bruce 7. Lu-177 produced at Bruce 7 is transported to ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM)'s facilities in Germany for processing. Its Gamzook'aamin aakoziwin partnership with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), was set up in 2019 to jointly market new medical isotopes while creating new economic opportunities within the SON territory by establishing new isotope infrastructure.
In collaboration with the Southwestern Ontario Isotope Coalition, IsoGen and SON, the company said it was committed to advocating for processing facilities to be built locally to enhance the supply chain of isotopes in Ontario and improve the logistical impacts of handling short-lived medical isotopes. "In 2025, we will be investing CAD3 million (USD2.2 million) into greater localisation and will be proposing to the CNSC changes to existing licensed facilities to safely accommodate this important work," it said.
"Southwestern Ontario, the rest of the province and the country have become global superpowers in the production of medical isotopes through innovation, partnerships, investment and stakeholder support," said Bruce Power Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President James Scongack, adding that maximising isotope production and exploring the production of other medical isotopes "is the socially responsible thing to do for patients around the world."