It's a very important point that you make. Our perspective is that the decision to abandon the MAPLE reactors may have been premature, without taking into consideration all the collateral damage that has potentially arisen because of this, and there may be regulatory issues from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that may have a problem with licensing the reactor. But this has to be looked at in an open public forum. If there is documentation supporting the abandonment of the MAPLEs, then that should be allowed to come forward. So far we do not know if there has been any real evaluation of the MAPLEs in a thoughtful, fruitful way that evaluates all the implications on research, on jobs for Canadians, on distribution, on access to health care for our patients.
Medical isotope production is a Canadian industry that we are about to lose, and with that goes multiple jobs and research capabilities and avenues for post-doctorate trainees or Ph.D. individuals. Where will they go if we do not have a infrastructure to support them?
So definitely, not only from a health perspective but from a Canadian perspective, this should be re-evaluated.