Overview

Ontario is a global leader in producing life-saving medical isotopes, which are critical to diagnose and treat cancer and other serious diseases.

Ontario’s CANada Deuterium Uranium reactors (CANDU) at Darlington, Pickering and Bruce — as well as research reactors — produce a reliable supply of these essential isotopes that support patients and healthcare providers in Canada and around the world.

Ontario’s nuclear industry also provides reliable, affordable and clean electricity to our power grid. This makes up about 50% of Ontario’s electricity with zero-emissions power, helping to fuel a healthier population and a strong economy.

Uses of isotopes

Nuclear isotopes are essential tools in modern healthcare and industrial sectors, used for a wide range of applications, including:

  • sterilization of medical equipment
  • diagnostic imaging
  • cancer treatment
  • fighting insect and food-borne diseases
  • analyzing mining samples
  • quality testing for industrial materials

Jobs, economy and exports

In Canada, the production, processing and distribution of medical isotopes has created 8,500 jobs, most of which are in Ontario. Ontario’s medical isotope sector includes:

  • nuclear power and research reactors
  • nuclear supply chain companies
  • healthcare entities

The nuclear medicine market is estimated to reach around CAD$45 billion by 2031.

List of nuclear isotopes

We produce 8 nuclear isotopes across 5 locations in Ontario. Learn more about each isotope, what they’re used for and where they’re produced.

Carbon-14

Carbon-14 is not yet widely available to the global market; it will be harvested and concentrated from the existing supply being stored as an intermediate-level waste product at OPG’s Western Waste Management Facility. It plays a critical role in:

  • biotracers for drug development, supporting innovation across the life science sector
  • reducing the amount of nuclear waste held in storage

Cobalt-60

Cobalt-60 is is produced at Bruce, Pickering and Darlington Nuclear Generating Stations (NGS) and is used to:

  • sterilize medical equipment
  • treat cancer
  • remove bacteria from food

Molybdenum-99

Molybdenum-99 will be produced at Darlington NGS and is essential for:

  • diagnostic imaging
  • helping doctors detect illnesses like cancer and heart disease
  • saving lives through early detection

Lutetium-177

Lutetium-177 is used for precision oncology for targeted radionuclide therapy of numerous cancers, including neuroendocrine tumours and prostate cancer. It is produced at Bruce NGS and Darlington NGS. Production is expected to begin in 2027.

Actinium-225

Actinium-225 is produced by Chalk River Laboratories (operated by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories) and is essential for:

  • targeted cancer therapies
  • non-invasive cancer treatments
  • cancer treatments with fewer side effects

Helium-3

Helium-3 is produced at Darlington NGS, the largest tritium processing facility in the world, by extracting it from tritium stored at the facility, this makes OPG the first civilian, non-military source of the isotope. It is used for:

  • quantum computing
  • neutron research
  • border security
  • medical imaging

Iodine-125

Iodine-125 is produced at McMaster Nuclear Reactor and provides cancer treatments for about 70,000 patients a year. It is used in:

  • brachytherapy
  • imaging
  • radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer, uveal melanomas and brain tumors

Yttrium-90

Yttrium-90 is crucial for diagnosing and treating prostate cancer, liver cancer and neuroendocrine tumours. It will be produced by Darlington NGS.

Ontario medical isotopes production locations

Ontario plays a pivotal role in the global production of nuclear medical isotopes. There are 16 operable CANDU reactors across 3 different nuclear generating stations (NGS) in Ontario:

  • Pickering NGS
  • Darlington NGS
  • Bruce NGS

Each of these generating stations plays an important role producing medical isotopes. Life-saving medical isotopes are also produced at nuclear research facilities in Ontario. They are produced at McMaster University and Chalk River Laboratories.

Pickering NGS

Pickering NGS houses 4 operating nuclear reactors, 3 of which can produce the medical isotope Cobalt-60.

Darlington NGS

Darlington NGS has 4 nuclear reactors. Darlington currently produces Cobalt-60. Helium-3 is extracted from the tritium (a by-product of CANDU reactor operation) stored at the site. This facility has plans to produce Molybdenum-99, Yttrium-90 and Lutetium-177 soon, using a specialized Target Delivery System installed in unit 2 at the Darlington NGS. This is the largest isotope production system in North America.

Bruce NGS

Bruce NGS has 8 nuclear reactors and produces the Lutetium-177 and Cobalt-60 isotopes used in medical procedures. It is the first commercial nuclear power reactor in the world to produce Lutetium-177. It uses an Isotope Production System (IPS), which is the first of its kind.

With the recent arrival of Bruce Power’s new hot cell system, production of this isotope will become even more efficient and seamless.

McMaster Nuclear Reactor

McMaster’s reactor is the most powerful research reactor in Canada and is the only major neutron source in the country.

McMaster University is the world’s leading supplier of Iodine-125. The McMaster Nuclear Reactor produces hundreds of doses of Iodine-125 every week, which is half of the world’s supply. Over 70,000 cancer patients are reached worldwide every year with these isotopes.

Chalk River Laboratories (Canadian Nuclear Laboratories)

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) operates the Chalk River Laboratories site in Ontario which is one of few facilities currently capable of producing Actinium-225 in research-scale quantities. Actinium-225 is so rare that the entire global supply produced each year is less than a grain of sand.

Ontario Power Generation Western Waste Management Facility

OPG’s Nuclear Sustainability Services operates the Western Waste Management Facility, which stores intermediate-level waste produced during normal operation of CANDU reactors.

Using an innovative new system, this facility will soon begin harvesting and concentrating Carbon-14 from these stored products to be used as biotracers for drug development in the life science sector.

OPG is preparing to recover Carbon-14 from spent resin. Subject to a successful trial, OPG expects to bring Carbon-14 to the market for commercial sale by 2027.