And the "sex" just keeps on comin'

The operators of the High Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands are attempting to make up for the loss of production of medical isotopes created by the shut-down of the Chalk River reactor in Canada.

Petten was meeting about 60 percent of the European demand for medical isotopes and is now expected to help solve the "sexy" problem exacerbated by the hillbilly politics of the Harper government and natural resources minister Lisa Raitt.

And Raitt assured everyone that even with Chalk River down, there were other sources of supply of vital medical isotopes.

Oops! Not so fast there Lisa. A competent minister would have known this:

Officials at the main European reactor that produces medical isotopes have their fingers crossed that the shuttered Chalk River facility will be running by early next year, when they must close their own operation for five to six months.

"It would be pretty difficult to see how the medical community could manage to cope if we have to go out for a long period before the (Canadian) reactor gets back," said Kevin Charlton, commercial manager of isotope supply at the Petten HFR reactor in the Netherlands.

While Petten had been supplying MDS Nordion with a small amount of moly-99 it has now ramped up and is providing 50 percent more than prior to the Chalk River shut down.

But, there's more.

The Petten HFR is also an old reactor. In 2002 it was cited for safety issues and the reactor was shut down because of a leak. (See any similarities yet? Don't worry, you will.)

Skip forward to August 2008. The Petten HFR had been shut down for a month-long routine mantenance period when a problem was discovered in the piping systems. Instead of a 21 August restart, the reactor remained out of service until February 2009, creating a critical shortage of medical isotopes throughout Europe. Add to that problem the fact that the Belgian reactor was also shut down and, well... nuclear medicine departments all over Europe were pulling their hair out.

There's more.

The Petten HFR has a mandatory shut-down coming up. The repair that got them running in February 2009 was a temporary fix. The Netherlands government has ordered NRG, the operators of Petten, to replace the primary cooling water system by March of 2010, involving a major and protracted shut-down.

The IRE reactor in Fleurus, Belgium, has had safety issues, not the least of which was a radiological accident which contaminated workers.

Just more "sexy" stuff which the Harper government doesn't think you need to know.