Cobalt-60 production in CANDU power reactors

MDS Nordion has been supplying cobalt-60 sources to industry for industrial and medical purposes since 1946. These cobalt-60 sources are used in many market and product segments. The major application is in the health care industry where irradiators are used to sterilize single use medical products. These irradiators are designed and built by MDS Nordion and are used by manufacturers of surgical kits, gloves, gowns, drapes and other medical products. The irradiator is a large shielded room with a storage pool for the cobalt-60 sources. The medical products are circulated through the shielded room and exposed to the cobalt-60 sources. This treatment sterilizes the medical products which can then be shipped to hospitals for immediate use. Other applications for this irradiation technology include sanitisation of cosmetics, microbial reduction of pharmaceutical raw materials and food irradiation. The cobalt-60 sources are manufactured by MDS Nordion in their Cobalt Operations Facility in Kanata. More than 75,000 cobalt-60 sources for use in irradiators have been manufactured by MDS Nordion. The cobalt-60 sources are double encapsulated in stainless steel capsules, seal welded and helium leak tested. Each source may contain up to 14,000 curies. These sources are shipped to over 170 industrial irradiators around the world. This paper will focus on the MDS Nordion proprietary technology used to produce the cobalt-60 isotope in CANDU reactors. Almost 55 years ago MDS Nordion and Atomic Energy of Canada developed the process for manufacturing cobalt-60 at the Chalk River Labs, in Ontario, Canada. A cobalt-59 target was introduced into a research reactor where the cobalt-59 atom absorbed one neutron to become cobalt-60. Once the cobalt-60 material was removed from the research reactor it was encapsulated in stainless steel and seal welded using a Tungsten Inert Gas weld. The first cobalt-60 sources manufactured using material from the Chalk River Labs were used in cancer therapy machines. Today the majority of the cancer therapy cobalt-60 sources used in the world are manufactured using material from the NRU reactor in Chalk River. The same technology that was used for producing cobalt-60 in a research reactor was then adapted and transferred for use in a CANDU power reactor. In the early 1970s, in co-operation with Ontario Power Generation (formerly Ontario Hydro), bulk cobalt-60 production was initiated in the four Pickering A CANDU reactors located east of Toronto. This was the first full scale production of millions of curies of cobalt-60 per year. As the demand and acceptance of sterilization of medical products grew, MDS Nordion expanded its bulk supply by installing the proprietary Canadian technology in additional CANDUs. Over the years MDS Nordion has partnered with CANDU reactor owners to produce cobalt-60 at various sites. CANDU reactors that have, or are still producing cobalt-60, include Pickering A, Pickering B, Gentilly 2, Embalse in Argentina, and Bruce B. In conclusion, the technology for cobalt-60 production in CANDU reactors, designed and developed by MDS Nordion and Atomic Energy of Canada, has been safely, economically and successfully employed in CANDU reactors with over 195 reactor years of production. Today over forty percent of the world's disposable medical supplies are made safer through sterilization using cobalt-60 sources from MDS Nordion. Over the past 40 years, MDS Nordion with its CANDU reactor owner partners, has safely and reliably shipped more than 500 million curies of cobalt-60 sources to customers around the world. MDS Nordion is presently adding three more CANDU power reactors to its supply chain. These three additional cobalt producing CANDU's will help supplement the ability of the health care industry to provide safe, sterile, medical disposable products to people around the world. As new applications for cobalt-60 are identified, and the demand for bulk cobalt-60 increases, MDS Nordion and AECL continue to identify additional CANDU reactor owners who recognize the mutual benefits of cobalt-60 production. (authors)

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