I will reiterate the recommendation issued in 2009 by the expert panel. It was to build a new nuclear reactor on Canadian soil to replace the NRU reactor. That was the main recommendation of the report. That reactor would be used for research on neutrons and for developing new CANDU reactors, with a secondary mission of manufacturing medical isotopes. It would also be used for numerous research projects. I think that Canada needs a functional nuclear reactor for all those reasons.
More specifically, when it comes to medical isotopes, it is certain that having a reactor on our soil is a guarantee of global supply and renown in the production of isotopes. That would also be added to the participation of other countries and would reduce the global burden of the need to produce isotopes. One country should not be the only producer for the entire world. My dream is for us to have a new nuclear reactor. Without such a reactor, Canada would become a buyer of isotopes just like other countries without a reactor.
Should that happen, we would not be immune to the market. We would have to follow the availability and the cost of obtaining isotopes, and the market could fluctuate based on the stability of nuclear reactors in the world. The mechanics are relatively complex when it comes to the final cost that could lead to, and when it comes to what we would think the final cost may be.
How could replacement technologies be a part of that large supply chain? I think that those other techniques exist to address the shortcomings of nuclear reactors. For example, the nuclear reactor of Petten, in the Netherlands, may have to undergo extensive maintenance, and Canada would experience a shortage of isotopes, let's say of 30%. So we would receive 30% less isotopes.
When it comes to accelerators—as we heard earlier—there is one in British Columbia, one at McMaster University in Ontario and another one in Sherbrooke. Those accelerators could be activated and cover the shortfall of 20% to 30% of isotopes in Canada. Once the Petten nuclear reactor returned to service, the production of cyclotrons could be reduced. So there could be such a dynamic in terms of global supply, where accelerators would cover the shortfall.