958:
144:-moderated design, coupled with the high neutron flux of the reactor, made it relatively inexpensive for AECL to produce medical-grade cobalt-60. For example, the cost of the entire unit used to perform the first cobalt-60 treatment was about $ 50,000. By way of contrast, it would cost $ 50,000,000 just to produce enough
214:(PCR), which was in disagreement with the prediction of the modelling, and was a significant barrier to commissioning. A positive power co-efficient means that the reactor becomes more reactive when it heats up; in the case of an unplanned power spike, such a design can "run away" and potentially cause a
202:
Originally planned to complete construction in 1999 and 2000, both reactors were instead completed in May 2000. An operational license was granted in August 1999 for the MAPLE I reactor, and extended to include the MAPLE II reactor in June 2000. Commissioning testing was begun immediately, with the
178:
As part of a restructuring taking place around the same time, the medical isotopes side of AECL was reorganized as
Nordion in 1988. Work on the X10 project essentially ended at this point. Nordion company was purchased by MDS in 1991, and an agreement was reached between AECL and MDS Nordion that a
206:
However, during testing, it was noted that some of the emergency shut-off rods in the MAPLE I reactor could fail to deploy in certain demanding situations. This failure was ascribed to workmanship and design issues, and related to fine metal particles accumulating in the control rods' housing and
233:
On 16 May 2008, AECL released a statement announcing that the MAPLE program had been terminated, as it had become "no longer feasible to complete the commissioning and start-up of the reactors". In this statement, AECL indicated that they would move to further extend the licence of the operating
221:
Consequently, significant efforts were made to resolve the outstanding issues, but progress towards commissioning the reactors was markedly slowed. During the subsequent eight-year-long delay in the start of commercial production, the project significantly overran its budgeted cost. The original
182:
The design that resulted involved a facility with two identical reactors, each capable of supplying 100% of the world's medical isotope demand. The second reactor would function primarily as a backup, to ensure that the supply of isotopes would not be interrupted by maintenance or unplanned
83:
An operational license for the MAPLE I reactor was granted in 1999, and the reactor went critical for the first time in early 2000. MAPLE II followed in the fall of 2003. Problems with the reactors during the testing period, most notably an unexpected positive
229:
The MAPLE facility was granted an extension on its operating license on 25 October 2007, which would permit operations until 31 October 2011. This (final) submission envisioned that the MAPLE I reactor would be operational in late 2008.
179:
new facility dedicated to the production of medical isotopes would be needed. A formal agreement was signed to begin the project in August 1996. Following a year-long environmental assessment, construction began in
December 1997.
167:
In the late 1980s, AECL began to acknowledge that continued isotope production would require the construction of a new reactor to replace capacity lost by the planned closing of the
159:
reactor, which came on-line in 1957. However, as these reactors began to age, it became clear that a new facility would be needed to continue the production of medical isotopes.
60:. It included two identical reactors, I and II, as well as the isotope-processing facilities necessary to produce a large portion of the world's medical isotopes, especially
569:
238:
reactor to continue the production of medical isotopes. The statement left unclear what long-term direction AECL would take for its medical isotope production business.
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226:
and MDS Nordion added a further layer of complexity to the process. After considerable negotiation, AECL assumed full responsibility for the reactor in a settlement.
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187:, and must be used within a few days of production. With treatments being constantly carried out around the globe, an uninterruptible supply was essential.
357:
140:
are able to penetrate the skin of the patient, and deliver a greater portion of the dose directly to the tumor. The high neutron efficiency of the NRX's
194:) in the reactor, as well as from activists in the United States who fear that the uranium could be stolen by terrorists and used to fabricate a bomb.
125:
developed when it was realized that some of these artificially created isotopes could be used to diagnose and treat many diseases, especially cancers.
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possessed the world's most powerful research reactor. While the large neutron fluxes available in the reactor led to advances in such fields as
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budget was $ 140 million, but by 2005 it had already cost $ 300 million. Disputes over responsibility for the overruns between
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early in the new millennium. Design work on a replacement, originally under the name "Maple-X10", began in the late 1980s.
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MAPLE I achieving its first sustained reaction in
February 2000, and MAPLE II following in October 2003.
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With this promising start, AECL came to be a major world supplier of medical isotopes, using both the
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https://web.archive.org/web/20080618221319/http://www.aecl.ca/NewsRoom/News/Press-2008/080516.htm
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and neutron spectroscopy, many experiments were carried out involving the production of new
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shutdowns. This is made necessary by the nature of medical isotopes; many have short
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148:(which had been previously used as a therapy source) to perform the same procedure.
88:, led to the cancellation of the project in 2008 and the shutdown of both reactors.
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Index of AECL submissions to the CNSC for licensing, and the subsequent decisions.
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There had been some local opposition to the use of highly enriched uranium (
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Pioneering medical work done in the late 1940s and early 1950s established
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Press release of an agreement with INVAP for numerical modelling work
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2/19/99 Letter from
American group concerned about HEU use in MAPLE
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In addition, later testing found that the reactors have a positive
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October 2007 AECL submission to the CNSC, see Slide 8 on Page 4.
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PR Newswire report of AELC-MDS Nordion
Settlement (in brief)
52:), was a dedicated isotope-production facility built by
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132:as a useful isotope, as the relatively high-energy
398:"AECL pulls plug on reactors after millions spent"
507:"Over budget, overdue and, perhaps, overdesigned"
42:Multipurpose Applied Physics Lattice Experiment
371:Website of local group opposed to HEU in MAPLE
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8:
30:"MAPLE" redirects here. For other uses, see
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171:in 1992, and the planned closing of the
27:Failed medical isotope reactor in Canada
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356:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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207:interfering with their free movement.
869:Nuclear Waste Management Organization
462:Release confirming licence extension.
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511:Canadian Medical Association Journal
910:Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
25:
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212:power co-efficient of reactivity
86:power co-efficient of reactivity
983:Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
946:Anti-nuclear movement in Canada
890:Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
495:Article on early cobalt therapy
396:McCarthy, Shawn (17 May 2008).
1:
905:Canadian Nuclear Association
595:Electricity sector in Canada
298:Myers, Terry (21 May 2008).
46:MDS Medical Isotope Reactors
852:McArthur River uranium mine
666:Nuclear Power Demonstration
300:"AECL scraps Maple project"
255:How the MAPLE Reactors Work
136:produced when it undergoes
101:With the completion of the
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600:Nuclear industry in Canada
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818:Plasma Physics Laboratory
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925:Ontario Power Generation
920:Natural Resources Canada
874:Deep Geologic Repository
837:Uranium mining in Canada
803:Chalk River Laboratories
115:condensed matter physics
111:Chalk River Laboratories
813:Whiteshell Laboratories
590:Energy policy of Canada
579:Nuclear power in Canada
721:and prototype reactors
719:Research, experimental
32:MAPLE (disambiguation)
691:Power plant reactors
198:Project cancellation
808:McMaster University
523:10.1503/cmaj.080320
505:Magnus, B. (2008).
304:North Renfrew Times
796:Research locations
467:2008-01-05 at the
438:2008-05-24 at the
420:2008-06-16 at the
402:The Globe and Mail
338:on 22 January 2004
260:2008-03-22 at the
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517:(7): 813–4.
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340:. Retrieved
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895:Bruce Power
142:heavy water
58:MDS Nordion
977:Categories
828:Fuel cycle
630:Darlington
242:References
185:half-lives
163:Beginnings
138:beta decay
134:gamma rays
97:Background
78:iodine-125
74:iodine-131
64:, medical
830:locations
635:Pickering
130:cobalt-60
70:xenon-133
66:cobalt-60
963:Category
773:SLOWPOKE
661:Gentilly
541:18362369
465:Archived
436:Archived
418:Archived
352:cite web
278:CBC News
258:Archived
216:meltdown
119:isotopes
532:2267837
92:History
900:Cameco
768:STOR-M
649:Closed
618:Active
539:
529:
342:22 May
146:radium
778:ZED-2
738:MAPLE
710:SGHWR
625:Bruce
336:(PDF)
325:(PDF)
38:MAPLE
18:MAPLE
783:ZEEP
733:IMSR
698:PHWR
537:PMID
358:link
344:2022
224:AECL
107:AECL
76:and
56:and
54:AECL
50:MMIR
763:PTR
758:NRU
753:NRX
748:MTF
743:MNR
527:PMC
519:doi
515:178
236:NRU
192:HEU
173:NRU
169:NRX
157:NRU
153:NRX
109:'s
103:NRX
979::
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388:^
354:}}
350:{{
327:.
302:.
286:^
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571:e
564:t
557:v
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48:(
34:.
20:)
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