Medical miracles from local ideas, by Keith Roulston

 

A recent story on television told of Bruce Power producing isotopes from some of its nuclear waste to help treat various medical diseases

I must admit I didn’t know that Bruce Power has been a global leader in the production of medical isotopes for more than 35 years, beginning with production of cobalt-60 in the four Bruce B units.

Cobalt-60 is an isotope used worldwide to keep hospitals clean and safe through the sterilization of medical devices, while also fighting brain and breast cancers through specialized treatments.

In 2022, Bruce Power took another leap forward in its isotope program, expanding capabilities to supply cancer-fighting isotopes to the world market through the installation of a first-of-a-kind Isotope Production System (IPS), which produces lutetium-177, a short-lived medical isotope used in innovative prostate cancer treatments.

The history of Bruce Power starts in 1960 with the beginning of construction of Canada’s first commercial-scale nuclear reactor at Douglas Point, near Tiverton. Douglas Point powered up for the first time in 1967. I was a student, then, and often visited Boiler Beach, south of Kincardine. On clear days you could see Douglas Point from Boiler Beach.

In 1968 plans were announced for four nuclear reactors at Bruce A, as well as a heavy water plant. In 1975 a proposal was approved by the Ontario government to build four more reactors at Bruce B. 

In 2001 Bruce Power assumed operational control of the site from the Ontario government and confirmed plans to restart Units 3 and 4. Terrorist attacks in the U.S. prompted the formation of a full-time, rapid-response, armed security force at Bruce Power.
There are many more significant dates and landmarks along the way that I’ve glossed over. 

I had relatives working in a knitting factory in Kincardine when Douglas Point began. The nuclear plant offered such better wages so that factory, and others, closed.

When we began The Rural Voice in 1975 (then a tabloid-sized newspaper not a magazine) the picture on the first issue was of a hydro line east of Blyth, carrying power from Bruce Power. Later, another line was built near Lake Huron. Both lines encouraged the later construction  of wind turbines which, some people protested, affected their health

Currently there are 4,000 people working at Bruce Power. Incoming employees saw the population of Kincardine and Port Elgin soar. It also meant local residents in a wide area were offered highly-paid jobs. 

Bruce Power has changed life entirely in this part of Ontario. It has expressed the kind of creativity that has led to the creation and sale of isotopes around the world, something that other nuclear reactors have not done.

I know that some people in the area are not comfortable with the creation of electricity from nuclear power. Mistakes like those at Three Mile Island in the U.S., Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima, in Japan have truly showed the frightening side of nuclear power.

Native people living in the area have expressed their doubts and concerns about atomic power.

However the 60-year safety record of Bruce Power, and more recently the manufacture of life-saving isotopes shows the useful side of nuclear power development. Plans are now underway for the Bruce C expansion, for an additional 4,800 megawatts and thousands of new jobs (and homes) in the area.      

   
It’s amazing to have these innovative people living in this rural part of Ontario. People in hospitals around the world are being helped by locally-produced medical isotopes.◊