Nordion and Bruce Power Sign Long Term Contract to Supply Cobalt-60 for Clean, Safe Hospitals
November 14 2014 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Cobalt-60 is used to sterilize 40 per cent of
the world’s single-use medical products and equipment
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 PowerBruce 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 NordionNordion 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.
NordionShelley Maclean, 613-592-3400
x2414shelley.maclean@nordion.comorBruce PowerJohn Peevers,
519-361-6583john.peevers@brucepower.com
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