OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nordion, a business unit of Sterigenics International LLC, is pleased to announce it has signed a multi-year agreement up to an additional 14-years with long-time partner Bruce Power, operator of the largest nuclear facility in the world, to provide a long-term supply of Cobalt-60 that will support health care around the world. Cobalt-60 makes an invaluable contribution to the health care industry, and is used to sterilize approximately 40 per cent of all single-use medical devices and equipment produced globally.
“In today’s world, where spread of disease is discussed daily, we are reminded how critical it is to have sterile medical products to mitigate risk to patients and the health care community,” said Scott McIntosh, President, Gamma Technologies and Corporate Services, Nordion. “This agreement signifies the value and importance that Bruce Power and Nordion place on ensuring the long-term, stable supply of Cobalt-60 for the sterilization industry and our customers.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates more than 640,000 major surgeries are performed each day around the world. Sterilized disposable medical products are used in virtually all of these procedures. Cobalt-60 is supplied to the over 200 gamma irradiators in 55 countries that sterilize surgical gloves, gowns, masks, syringes, sutures, catheters, pharmaceuticals, implants and tissue, as well as several products used in the food and consumer products industries (Source: International Atomic Energy Agency).
“Bruce Power is committed to not only playing a role in providing a reliable source of affordable, clean electricity over the long-term, but securing the world’s largest source of Cobalt-60 from our Bruce B units,” said Duncan Hawthorne, President & CEO, Bruce Power. “While we are signing a long-term agreement today, our commitment is to ensure we continue to supply Cobalt-60 to Nordion as we extend the lives of our units for decades to come so they can support both the needs of a modern health care system, while providing Ontario families and businesses affordable electricity.”
If Ontario’s Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP) was fully implemented, including the life extension and refurbishment of the Bruce B units, these units would operate until approximately 2060. By moving forward with Bruce Power’s role in the LTEP, the supply of both Cobalt-60 and electricity could be secured for the long-term. Bruce Power provides nearly a third of Ontario’s electricity from its 8-unit facility in Southwestern Ontario at a cost of 30 per cent below the average cost of electricity in the province. Ontario’s LTEP has earmarked 6,300 MW of output from the Bruce Power site to meet the supply needs of Ontario for decades to come that will be enabled through a multi-year investment program to renew the site.
“Ontario has developed a nuclear power industry with an international reputation for safety, innovation and excellence - and an impressive history of supporting jobs at home,” said Hon. Bob Chiarelli, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and MPP (Ottawa West-Nepean). “Today’s announcement underscores the important contribution nuclear technology makes in our province.”
For more information about Cobalt-60, and Nordion’s partnership with Bruce Power, visit www.cleannuclearpowersafehospitals.com.
About Bruce Power
Bruce Power operates the world's largest
operating nuclear generating facility and is the source of roughly 30
per cent of Ontario's electricity. The company's site in Tiverton,
Ontario is home to eight CANDU reactors, each one capable of generating
enough low-cost, reliable, safe and clean electricity to meet the annual
needs of a city the size of Hamilton. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an
all-Canadian partnership among Borealis Infrastructure Management (a
division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System),
TransCanada, the Power Workers' Union and the Society of Energy
Professionals. A majority of Bruce Power's employees are also owners in
the business.
About Nordion
Nordion Inc. provides market-leading products
used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. We are a
leading provider of medical isotopes and gamma technologies that benefit
the lives of millions of people around the world. Our products are used
daily by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical-device
manufacturers, hospitals, clinics and research laboratories. Nordion
supplies products to approximately 500 customers across more than 40
countries around the globe. Our parent company, Sterigenics
International LLC, is the global leader in contract sterilization and
ionization services for the medical devices, food safety and high
performance/specialty materials industries serving customers around the
world. Find out more at www.nordion.com
and follow us at twitter.com/NordionInc.
