Abandoning production of isotopes is a tragedy
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009As published in The Nanaimo Daily News
VICTORIA – Why on earth would Prime Minister Stephen Harper choose to take Canada out of the business of producing nuclear isotopes for medical use?
This decision is a veritable repeat of the Avro Arrow fiasco when Canada terminated this project thereby giving up our lead in aeronautical engineering. The loss of jobs, knowledge, and capabilities in this area eliminated Canada from being a world leader in a burgeoning industry.
The same situation is recurring right now due to the abysmal decision Harper made last week.
Canada has been the leading producer of medical isotopes for decades. This is an area of excellence for us that provides life-saving products used in nuclear medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences in the U.S. said last week that the only real solution to deal with the worldwide crisis in access to isotopes is to get Canada’s Maple 1 and 2 nuclear reactors working. Rather than doing this, Harper has chosen to throw up his hands and evict the field, leaving us without a domestic supply of isotopes and abandoning a field that provides high paying jobs.
This is not leadership, this is a national tragedy.
Rather than walking away we should expand our capabilities so that Canada remains the lead producer of these life-saving products. If we don’t, the extraordinary Canadian scientists who work in nuclear medicine will leave the country for other nations that will surely fill the void and become the new leaders in this industry. Why would we allow this to happen?
Dr. Keith Martin,
MP Esquimalt – Juan de Fuca
Health Promotion Critic for the Liberal Party of Canada
