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Viewing cable 08OTTAWA673,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08OTTAWA673 2008-05-16 20:58 2011-04-28 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Ottawa
VZCZCXRO6675
RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0673 1372058
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 162058Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7872
INFO RHEBAAA/HQ DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS OTTAWA 000673 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAN, OES, EB/ESC, AND ISN 
DOE FOR P&I, NE AND NNSA 
EPA FOR OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR AND INT'L AFFAIRS 
COMMERCE FOR 4320/ITA/MAC/WH/ONIA - WORD 
HHS for Office of Global Health Affairs 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TRGY TBIO PGOV ENRG CA
SUBJ:  Canada's Nuclear Sector:  AECL scraps isotope reactor 
program 
 
REF:  OTTAWA 0156 
 
Sensitive, but unclassified.  Not for distribution outside USG 
channels. 
 
1. (SBU) In a stunning reversal, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited 
(AECL) announced on May 16 it is discontinuing development of two 
new reactors which were meant to lay the foundation for renewing 
Canada's medical isotope business.  That business had been severely 
shaken when the half-century old "NRU" reactor currently in use was 
shut down for over a month in November-December 2007 by the CNSC, 
Canada's nuclear regulator, for safety reasons (reasons later 
contested by the government) (reftel). 
 
2.  (U) The proposed Maple 1 and Maple 2 reactors were more than 
eight years behind schedule and well over budget.  AECL had invested 
over C$500 million in them, and as recently as late January they 
were still expected to enter service within a year. 
 
3. (U) Production of molybdenum-99, the input for medical isotope 
exports by AECL customer MDS Nordion, will now rely solely on the 
55-year-old NRU reactor in Chalk River, Ontario (two hours west of 
Ottawa).  This AECL-MDS relationship is the origin of about half of 
all isotopes used in diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures 
worldwide.  Such isotopes have half-lives of a few days or less, so 
stockpiling is impossible and prolonged interruptions in reactor 
service can create shortages in health care systems. 
 
4. (SBU) AECL's odds of participating in the pending 
nuclear-industry renaissance have been hampered by a lack of 
confidence in the money-losing, government-owned reactor firm to 
deliver on promises and stay in the game for the long term. 
Cancellation of the Maple project not only represents a huge 
financial loss, but also a huge loss of credibility for AECL as a 
supplier, and may even spell the beginning of the end of Canada's 
reactor industry.  Embassy will follow up with further analysis. 
 
WILKINS