I imagine that many Canadians have forgotten about the medical isotope issue from some months ago because it's really disappeared from media attention.Recall that the aging NRU reactor in Chalk River had to be shut down for repairs, disrupting the supply of medical isotopes to much of the world.
I was reminded of this story while listening to a recent podcast of Quirks & Quarks, reminded that Canada spent quite a sum of money to build 2 new reactors (Maple 1 and Maple 2) to replace the NRU reactor and that the current government, in its "wisdom" seems to have decided to get out of the medical isotope business altogether.
Canadians need to remember that we are (were?) world leaders in this technology, an area where we can be more than hewers of wood and drawers of water. It's just one more case of our political "leaders" lacking a vision and ambition for Canada, relegating us to being "followers" in the area of nuclear technology, not to mention alternative energy development and many others.
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