Westinghouse Electric Company, Nordion, and PSEG Nuclear announced on Tuesday the signing of long-term agreements to establish the first commercial-scale production of cobalt-60 in a U.S. nuclear reactor. Under the agreements, the companies are to apply newly developed production technology for pressurized water reactors to produce Co-60 at PSEG’s Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey.

The American Nuclear Society recently hosted a webinar, “Securing the Isotope Supply Chain: A Growing Global Challenge,” featuring experts from a variety of private and public institutions who discussed the current state of the isotope supply chain, the necessity for strengthening that chain, and the tools available to develop a more robust system.

To watch the full webinar, click here.

Ontario Power Generation in Canada announced that Unit 1 of its Darlington nuclear power plant, which has returned to service from refurbishment, is now producing the medical isotope cobalt-60. During refurbishment activities, OPG made modifications to the unit to allow it to produce Co-60, which is used to sterilize 30 percent of the world’s single-use medical devices, such as syringes, gloves, and implants.

Bruce Power, the utility in Ontario, Canada, and health-care company Nordion announced that they are working to increase the production of cobalt-60 to meet increasing world market demands. The companies said they will increase the amount of Co-60 Bruce Power is able to produce in its reactors “by innovating a new adjuster component configuration.”