Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here.
Clearly, this is a tough issue that poses a big problem—as far as patients are concerned, of course.
Mr. West, I was shocked to hear you say today that the MAPLE reactor has previously produced isotopes. In 2008, the former natural resources minister told this same committee that after 12 years, no isotopes had been produced, and the minister said the same thing. My question is for you and the other witnesses. Who is telling the truth? Can it produce isotopes?
My other question is concerning safety. Mr. Duguay spoke about the weaknesses of the MAPLE and CANDU reactors. It has to do with radioactivity. As soon as we hear that, we have concerns about safety, as does the public. Can we really operate the MAPLE reactors safely?
Mr. Waddington, you said that it was indeed possible, but it would require a lot of different measures as well as financial resources. You also said that it would be hard to estimate the cost. That being said, would getting these reactors running mean sinking money into a bottomless pit? It would most certainly require a lot of time, as well. You previously suggested restarting the NRU reactor as a possible solution.
I have a variety of questions, as you can see, but they boil down to two fundamental issues. Can the MAPLE reactor really produce isotopes? And would we be compromising safety by restarting these reactors?