Canada MPs to end isotope crisis

Non-radioactive technology is also used in cancer detection

Canadian MPs have passed an emergency bill to reopen a nuclear reactor that supplies hospitals with two-thirds of the world's medical isotopes.

The shutdown has caused delays for thousands of cancer patients worldwide.

The reactor in Ontario was closed last month for scheduled maintenance, but regulators have delayed its reopening over safety concerns.

The bill, which has to be approved by the Senate, would allow the reactor's operators to bypass the regulators.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday that there was no risk of a nuclear accident.

The Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine said 50,000 Canadians and 160,000 Americans would have their tests postponed every month as along as the reactor remained shut.

'Potentially catastrophic'

The Chalk River reactor was shut for routine maintenance on 18 November.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission refused to allow it to reopen after discovering that it had been operating for a year without the required emergency power system connected to two cooling pumps.

This ensures the pumps have power even if hit by an earthquake, fire, flood or tornado.

Atomic Energy of Canada, the government-owned company which operates the reactor, said it could restart the reactor using an emergency pump.

Mr Harper, who heads a Conservative minority government, told parliament on Tuesday that he had independent advice "indicating there is no safety concern with the reactor".

The Senate is expected to pass the legislation on Wednesday, after which production would begin immediately.

The isotopes are injected as a radioactive dye into patients with cancer or other diseases to allow doctors to take detailed scans.

They cannot be stockpiled because they have a short shelf life.

Doctors have described the shortage of medical nuclear material as "potentially catastrophic".