Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 29, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a19 Winnipeg repress. Com Canada Winnipeg free press Friday August 29, 2008 a 19 i t is impossible for the Chalk River ont., nuclear reactor to meet the global demand of medical isotopes even As it ramps up production following warnings of a worldwide shortage says a spokesman for atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Dale coffin a spokesman for the Crown corporation that owns the reactor said thursday the facility will increase its production of medical isotopes following the closure of the reactor in Belgium this week but there is no Way the Plant could Supply the entire worlds isotopes needs. All five of the major reactors which provide virtually All the worlds isotopes including one in Canada and others in Europe and in South Africa were shut Down for various unrelated reasons As of this week. Certainly if asked we Are going to try produce enough to narrow the Gap but certainly we wont be Able to produce the global demand coffin said. Radioactive isotopes Are instrumental in diagnosing some forms of cancer and heart disease and Are used in 30 million International nuclear Medicine procedures each year. The Ontario Plant with one of the most powerful reactors in the world produces about 50 per cent of the global Supply. Four of the reactors were closed for routine maintenance but the unexpected closure of the Belgium Plant due to safety concerns spawned predictions of global shortages and underlined the need for International co ordination of medical isotope production. There Are no International agreements or treaties regulating How and when reactors can be shut Down for maintenance a procedure that halts production for at least five Days. The isotopes have a shelf life of fewer than three Days. The Chalk River Plant is expected to resume operations next week. Perhaps in the future you want to have All of the worlds reactors or most of them shut Down for maintenance said Christopher Obrien president of the Ontario association of nuclear Medicine. European countries would have to look into developing plans to prevent similar widespread closures and May have already but there Are no such agreements Between Canada and the rest of the world he said. I would Hope the canadians look into How to be More coordinated on a worldwide level because what this documents is that medical isotope production is not unique to any specific country and should be viewed As a world resource Obrien said. This weeks series of closures set up a perfect storm in isotope availability the effects of which have been Felt with u. S Hospital shortages and could reach Europe next week said Robert Atcher president of the u. S. Based society of nuclear Medicine on wednesday. This is a cumulative situation where we cannot maintain a Patchwork approach to isotope production and Supply he said from his Laboratory in los Alamos n. M. When the Chalk River facility was shut Down last november due to safety concerns its prolonged closure caused an International isotope shortage and ended with the government forcing the Plant to reopen. Ads no Dion the company which buys isotopes from decl and Sells them to pharmaceutical manufacturers released a statement thursday saying it had no control Over which clients receive its product. In other words the company could not guarantee Canadian hospitals would receive any extra supplies produced by Chalk River in the event of a widespread shortage. Chalk River cant meet medical isotope demand shortage Alert brings production increase by Tobin Dalrymple Prince George b. C. A greyhound passenger wants to know Why he had to complain before Security asked another passenger to remove a knife with a nine Inch Blade from his Waist. Darold Moore said Drivers would have been Able to see the Large knife As the passenger got on and off the bus Many times during his 1,700 Kilometre journey Between Whitehorse and Prince George b. C. Moore said he easily noticed a fellow passenger was carrying a knife during his journey to Prince George from Grande Prairie alta., and said the Driver would also have seen the Blade had he been paying attention especially during a half hour Stop in Mackenzie. Everybody could see the knife said Moore mindful of a 15 year old passenger who was travelling Solo. They should be searching persons and their stuff. Its hanging right there outside his pants. Moores comments come just weeks after Tim Mclean 22, was beheaded on a greyhound bus in Manitoba by another passenger with a knife. Vince Weiguang i 40, of Edmonton has been charged with second degree murder. Adam Smith said he removed the knife in Prince George after a Security guard asked him to put it in his Luggage. I had a knife from Whitehorse up until this bus Stop Smith said wednesday. It has probably a nine Inch Blade on it. The Only reason that it got taken away was because somebody else said something about it to one of the other passengers. Smith said the four or five Drivers Between Whitehorse and Prince George did not pay much attention to the knife As he walked on and off the bus at stops. Smith who was in the midst of a three Day journey from Whitehorse to Reno nev., said what happened to Mclean was a one in a million incident that would not have been prevented by tighter Security. That would have happened regardless said Smith who considers storing bags underneath a coach an inconvenience. Can West news service passenger ordered to put knife in suitcase by Scott Stanfield Vancouver Dave Ross was still in bed thursday morning when he was awoken by the Subtle rumbling of an earthquake off the North coast of Vancouver Island. Just another earthquake Ross thought before he quickly drifted Back to sleep. Kind of like a shot going off like when you re blasting a Little bit of rumbling no noise of course just a bit of vibration said Ross from his Home in the Small Community of Holberg on the Northern Edge of the Island. We get a whole Bunch of Little ones All the time the Retiree in his 60s said. There was no reported damage and no tsunami warnings after the 5.8 magnitude quake More than 150 Kilometres out to sea. But a recent swarm of offshore earthquakes serves As a reminder that some British columbian live on unstable ground. Thursday mornings quake was the strongest of More than 100 recorded in the area since tuesday several with magnitudes of around four and five said Stephane Mazzotti of the geological Survey of Canada. The Canadian press no damage reported from b. C. Quake a 19_ aug 29 08. Ind a19 8 / 28/ 08 9 21 30 pm ;