South Africa Backstops Chalk River

Updating from my earlier posts on the medical isotopes shortage, a new story in today's Globe and Mail:

"South Africa has agreed to provide a portion of the medical isotopes that will be required across [Canada and the US] while the aging Canadian reactor that produced much of the world's supply remains out of service. But there will still be a shortage. And nuclear medicine specialists are concerned the reactor at Chalk River could be down for much longer than the month originally predicted..."

For cancer patients and other scheduled soon for radiation therapy this is not good news.