THE ONLY POINT on which there seems to be agreement is that the shutdown of the Canadian nuclear reactor that once supplied two-thirds of the world's life-saving medical isotopes is going to lead to untold numbers of deaths and prolonged illnesses.

Even after a half-century's operation, Atomic Energy of Canada's NRU reactor at Chalk River was still providing much of the world's isotope supply, and there's precious little hope that nuclear medicine practitioners in Canada and abroad will be able to get the supplies they need until the reactor is fixed, possibly by next fall.

Even more worrisome is the stance currently taken by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that his government will vacate the field of isotope production as too expensive, without the slightest evidence that any other country is prepared to fill the gap.

Thus far, the Conservative minority government has done virtually nothing toward providing a solution to the crisis, beyond asking the other countries with isotope-producing reactors to increase their output.

One option the government abandoned last year (also on financial grounds) was the commissioning of two new reactors that were to have replaced NRU, ostensibly because they couldn't be made to work.

But that decision has been called into question by nuclear experts, and a column in The Globe and Mail of June 18 contends that the two Maple reactors have actually proven capable of producing isotopes.

The column was by Stephen DeFalco, president and CEO of MDS Inc., an Ontario life sciences company that was a partner in the Maple project.

In it, he notes that each day, medical isotopes are used to diagnose and treat tens of thousands of patients worldwide. "These tiny substances are medical marvels, combatting diseases ranging from cardiac and neurological conditions to several types of cancers."

But while a continuous, reliable supply of medical isotopes is essential, "that supply has been threatened again by the most recent shutdown of Atomic Energy of Canada's NRU reactor — one that is having a detrimental impact on patients.

"This situation, which has been described as a catastrophe by leaders in nuclear medicine, should be the catalyst for a long-overdue solution to the supply of medical isotopes — a made-in- Canada solution to benefit patients and support this country's leadership in a vital industry.

"Unfortunately, the government has rejected a made-in-Canada solution and recently stated its desire to exit the production of isotopes altogether. We believe this is the wrong public policy decision for Canada and for the world."

He says that while the NRU reactor is the world's oldest and largest producer of medical isotopes, it supplies up to 40 per cent of world demand and 50 per cent of North American demand, the isotopes being processed by MDS Nordion in Ottawa and supplied to radiopharmaceutical companies for distribution to hospitals and radiopharmacies throughout the world.

Describing Canada as a leader in isotope production that fostered an innovative industry with high-value Canadian jobs, he says medical isotopes "are the foundation to advance research for improved drug discovery and development. They are our pathway to personalized medicine — enabling health-care professionals to improve lives through targeted imaging and targeted therapy, thereby providing medical diagnosis and treatment specific to an individual."

He goes on to suggest it is critical that we focus not just on today's needs but also on the advancement of nuclear medicine for tomorrow. "To keep this industry alive, we need new medical isotope production capacity".

Anticipating the need for new capacity, MDS had contracted with AECL in 1996 to construct and deliver two reactors and a processing facility dedicated solely to producing medical isotopes. "This MDS-funded collaboration, which was slated to be fully operational in 2000, became known as the Maple project. The Maple reactors were intended to replace the NRU and keep Canada at the forefront of the innovative field of nuclear medicine.

"However, in May of 2008, the government of Canada and AECL walked off the job — unilaterally cancelling a commercial contract they had been paid approximately $350 million by MDS to complete. They did so without disclosing a long-term plan for the supply of medical isotopes beyond relicensing the 50-plus-year-old NRU.

He winds up by asserting that the Maples are state-of-the-art reactors whose sole purpose is to produce medical isotopes, and that one of them powered at 50 per cent could produce enough isotopes to replace production from the NRU.

"And the Maples do work. They created isotopes, just as the NRU has created isotopes. This fact has been verified by independent observers. The Maple reactors are complete, they are safe and they await final commissioning. . . . Given the global shortage, it's time for Canada to reverse its public policy decision. Activating the Maple reactors will do more than provide a secure supply of medical isotopes for the welfare of patients worldwide."

We're certainly inclined to agree.