Cancer patients to wait longer for diagnoses because of reactor

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

THE HAGUE (AFP) — Cancer patients across Europe face a longer wait for their diagnoses after a nuclear reactor in the Netherlands was shut down for safety reasons.

Activity at the reactor in Petten was suspended following the discovery of air bubbles in the cooling system, its owners Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) said in a statement on its website.

NRG produces technetium, a medical isotope, at the reactor in the north-west of the country. Medical isotopes are very small quantities of radioactive substance used for medical imaging and the treatment of diseases.

"The consequences of this unplanned stop will have an impact on the medical isotope market," the company said.

"NRG will not produce any medical isotopes in the coming month. We...