Canada’s Bruce Power has received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to operate its on-site hot cell facility in Tiverton, Ontario, to perform Target Carrier Removal (TCR), an important step in the production process for lutetium-177 (Lu-177) used in an increasing number of targeted therapies in precision medicine. This final regulatory milestone allows the facility to begin commercial operations in September.
Construction of the hot cell was completed earlier this year, through a Canadian collaboration involving Bruce Power, Kinectrics, Bird Construction and a broad cross-functional team from across Bruce Power’s operations, engineering, licensing, radiation protection, safety and business development organisations. The hot cell enables qualified operators to safely handle irradiated materials remotely while minimising radiation exposure.
“This approval represents another transformational step in Bruce Power’s journey to improve lives through the production of cancer-fighting medical isotopes,” said James Scongack, Bruce Power Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President. “With the hot cell now licensed and approved for operations, we are strengthening Ontario’s integrated isotope supply chain, increasing efficiency, and expanding our ability to deliver cancer-fighting medical isotopes to patients around the world. This achievement reflects years of innovation, collaboration and dedication from our employees, partners and regulators, and reinforces Canada’s position as a global leader in isotope production.”
Bringing the Target Carrier Removal (TCR) process directly on-site provides several operational and environmental advantages. It boosts the efficiency of the Lu-177 supply chain and cuts down the need to ship radioactive materials off-site for intermediate processing.
The heavily shielded hot cell chamber plays a central role in advancing precision medicine. As well as supporting Lu-177 production it advances Canada’s broader national healthcare goal to double its production of medical isotopes.
Bruce Power has been producing cobalt-60 since 1986, supplying isotopes used to sterilize approximately 30% of the world’s single-use medical devices. The company began producing medical-grade cobalt-60 for cancer treatments in 2021 and became the first commercial nuclear power reactor in the world to produce Lu-177 in 2022, using its Isotope Production System (IPS) at unit 7 of the Bruce B NPP (units 5-8).
The IPS is a specialised technology integrated directly into Bruce Power’s operational nuclear reactors to produce medical isotopes without disrupting electricity generation. The system inserts targets into the reactor core while the unit runs at full power. Continuous neutron bombardment transforms stable ytterbium-176 targets into radioactive lutetium-177. Operators harvest the medical isotopes at the precise moment of optimal activation, and the harvested targets move directly to the new on-site hot cell for TCR.
The IPS is being expanded with an additional system being installed at Bruce B unit 6. It is strategically designed to come online to boost supply capacity and ensure a stable, uninterrupted global supply of isotopes when unit 7 temporarily goes offline for its scheduled Major Component Replacement (MCR) outage. Bruce Power is also evaluating the feasibility of installing a third IPS system at one of the Bruce A units (units 1–4), targeting an implementation window.
The project also supports Bruce Power’s partnership with Saugeen Ojibway Nation through Gamzook’aamin aakoziwin, an isotope partnership that has generated stable revenues for the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation while supporting community priorities and economic development initiatives.
