Ontario invests $6.8 million to expand McMaster’s nuclear capacity

The Ontario government announced $6.8 million in Thursday’s budget to strengthen the research capacity at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR), a leading supplier of medical isotopes used in breakthrough cancer treatments.

The investment, spread over three years, is part of the University’s $25 million project to optimize operations of the nuclear reactor to 24 hours a day, five days per week, and increase the diversity and amount of isotopes produced.

MNR is Canada’s largest nuclear research reactor. For over six decades, it has advanced discoveries in nuclear medicine, clean energy, nuclear safety, materials and environmental science while producing, processing and distributing medical isotopes for the treatment of approximately 70,000 cancer patients every year.