U.S. mulls firing up its own reactors
Remember a few months back when the prime minister told reporters that Canada was getting out of the isotope business? Turns out he may be right — although it may not be voluntary. The Globe and Mail reports that Parrish Staples, a senior official with the National Nuclear Security Administration told a meeting of the National Academies that the United States is looking at “a broad spectrum of ways to convert reactors in the U.S. to produce a domestic supply of technetium.” According to “nuclear watchers” back here in Canada, that could “doom” the industry here, and leave Canada dependent on the U.S. for future isotope needs.