Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is disappointed that the aging nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., will not return to service before next year.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited announced late Wednesday that its NRU reactor, which produces most of Canada's medical isotopes, would remain out of service until the first quarter of 2010.
It has been offline since it was shut down in May, when a radioactive water leak was discovered.
On Thursday, the prime minister said Ottawa would urge the nuclear agency to start producing isotopes as soon as possible.
Likewise, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt said that fixing the reactor is the best way to ensure a supply of isotopes in the coming years.
"That is the main fact of it," she told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
However, she added that it is important for Canada and its international partners to co-ordinate shutdown schedules at facilities around the world to ensure a steady supply.
Still, Raitt voiced concern that AECL did not have an exact date of when the facility would reopen.
Responding to those concerns, AECL chief Hugh MacDiarmid said the company will have a better idea of the timelines as repairs are made.
"We provide the guidance as best we can, given the information that is available," he said, adding that getting the reactor back online "really depends on the progress over the next weeks and months."
Since the 52-year-old reactor was shut down three months ago, its expected return-to-service date has been pushed back several times, leaving Canada to cope with a shortage of isotopes while it is offline.
The types of medical isotopes made at Chalk River are used to detect cancer and heart ailments.
The day before the prime minister made his comments, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Raitt released a joint statement saying they, too, were disappointed about the latest setback for the still-offline reactor.
"We have asked AECL to provide a firm return-to-service plan as soon as possible, and we have underscored to them that their first priority is to return the NRU reactor to service, consistent with maintaining the highest standards of safety and security," the ministers said in the statement.
Aglukkaq and Raitt also said they are working with medical experts, officials from other parts of Canada and other countries, to make up the shortfall in isotope production.
Under normal conditions, the NRU reactor produces one-third of the world's medical isotopes, which have a short shelf life and cannot be stockpiled. Since the reactor went offline, other countries have been trying to pick up the slack.
Doctors say the situation has left them with inconsistent supplies of isotopes, and has them paying high costs for the ones that are available. In some cases, isotope shipments are costing up to $30,000 more than they previously were.
Health Canada, however, has said that it does not plan to cover to extra costs, as the provinces and territories are responsible for regulating the price of medical isotopes
With files from The Canadian Press
