Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq is expected to release more details today on the government's plan to lessen the shortage of medical isotopes.
Last night, Health Canada announced it authorized a Boston company to make isotopes for diagnostic imaging in Canadian health care facilities.
Doctors who deal with nuclear medicine say the worldwide shortage of isotopes because of the shutdown of the Chalk River reactor is the biggest crisis ever to hit their field.
Robert Atcher, the nuclear medicine association, says patients are facing one of its greatest threats in modern times because of the shortage.
Medical isotopes are used in the detection and evaluation of patients with cancer, heart and brain diseases.
The Canadian reactor and one in the Netherlands produce 70 per cent of the world's medical isotopes.
The Dutch facility will close down in mid-July for a month of scheduled maintenance.
