To that very last point, we made the MAPLEs decision based on the best available evidence we had at that time, and nothing has changed in the intervening period. We continue to believe that discontinuing that program was the right thing to do.
I should correct some misconceptions that may have come out in various media reports. The MAPLE reactors are not in hot standby mode. The MAPLE reactors are very close to being put into an extended shutdown state. I can tell you that to the best of my knowledge, even if we were to take the decision tomorrow morning, for whatever set of reasons, to try to return the MAPLEs to service, it would be many years and many hundreds of millions of dollars before those reactors would be licensable and could be put into service. It's just not a realistic option at this time.
We certainly support the decision announced by the minister to form an expert panel. We believe that all the best minds should be applied to finding the right direction to take as a country and globally in terms of providing more diversity and reliability in the global supply chain for isotopes.
My last comment is that we certainly share the sense of urgency you all feel. We're Canadians. We have family and friends who are going to be exposed to the same risks we all are. I can assure you that AECL's employees very much feel the pressure and the responsibility to return this reactor to service as quickly as we can.