Ontario Power Generation

Nuclear Isotopes

Millions of Ontarians benefit from electricity generated by Ontario Power Generation. Few people are aware that the company also brings benefits to people in many countries around the world as a supplier of isotopes such as heavy water, Cobalt-60 and tritium. These stable and radioactive isotopes are key components in applications in medicine, sterilization, food preservation, luminescent lighting, and fusion research.

Isotopes - What are they?
You may recall from your high school chemistry studies that every atom of every element is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, and therefore, different atomic weights.

If, by peering into an imaginary microscope, we could see a cluster of hydrogen atoms, we’d notice that almost all hydrogen atoms consist of an electron orbiting a proton.

Of every million hydrogen atoms, 150 have a nucleus that contains a neutron as well as a proton. This isotope of hydrogen is called deuterium.

Isotopes have the same chemical properties because they have the same number of electrons. Deuterium bonds with oxygen to form heavy water (D2O). Heavy water, or deuterium oxide, is 10 per cent heavier than regular water because of an extra neutron. Heavy water is used to cool the fuel in 1CANDU and in nuclear research/isotope reactors.

A third isotope of hydrogen is called tritium (T). Tritium is produced in nuclear reactors and is radioactive.

Radioactive Isotopes
Radioactive isotopes have too many or too few neutrons in their nucleus, which creates excess energy. Release of this excess energy is known as radiation, or radioactive decay, and persists until the radioactive isotope becomes non-radioactive. Tritium, for example, releases beta radiation until it becomes helium, which is stable and non-radioactive. Note: All three isotopes of hydrogen have a proton and an electron. Nuclei of deuterium (D) and tritium (T) also have neutrons.

Improving Our Health with Cobalt-60

Cobalt-60 is one of the radioisotopes whose energy adds to the well-being of millions of people. Cobalt-60 is produced in Ontario Power Generation’s CANDU reactors by using adjuster rods that contain Cobalt-59 inserts. Over time, some of the Cobalt-59 inserts absorb a neutron and change at the atomic level to become Cobalt-60. About every 24 months, the Cobalt-60 adjuster rods are removed, processed and safely loaded for shipment. Licensed end users include, scientists, technicians, and academic researchers – for irradiation technology applications.

Cobalt-60 emits gamma radiation, making it an ideal isotope for use in a variety of medical and industrial applications. One such application is sterilization with Cobalt-60 irradiation – a Canadian technology used around the world to enhance the safety of perishable food and medical and consumer products. Favoured because of its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, Cobalt-60 can sterilize products after they have been packaged, thereby rendering them immediately safe to use. From syringes, gloves and surgical instruments to cotton balls and contact lens solution, Cobalt-60 irradiation ensures the safety of hundreds of products. Food irradiation using Cobalt-60 is increasingly viewed as the safest and most effective way to eliminate harmful insects and bacteria such as salmonella, e.coli and listeria from our food supply. One of the benefits of gamma radiation is that it can kill bacteria and microorganisms without affecting the quality of the foods’ taste, colour, texture and nutritional value.



Lighting a New Way with Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive hydrogen isotope that has been a part of our environment for millions of years. It is produced naturally by cosmic rays but is also a by-product of the daily operations of a CANDU nuclear reactor. When the deuterium in heavy water captures an additional neutron from the immense number of particles passing among the fuel elements, it changes to become tritium. Ontario Power Generation makes tritium commercially available for use in the production of self-powered lights, tritiumlabeled chemicals for medical research, and research into future power sources.

Minute amounts of tritium combined with phosphor create luminescence. This energyefficient light source does not require electricity and provides essential emergency lighting particularly for areas where electrical sparks can be dangerous and where minimal or no electrical wiring exists. Tritium lights are used in the manufacture of safety and security products like land-mine markers and emergency exit signs in commercial buildings and airplanes.

Power for Future Generations

Nuclear fusion has been hailed as the energy source of the future, the successor to coal, oil, and gas as underground reserves of these fuels are depleted. Fusion power offers the potential of an almost limitless source of clean energy for future generations. It is called 'fusion' because the nuclei of lightweight atoms, such as hydrogen, fuse to make heavier atoms while releasing tremendous amounts of energy. The process is similar to that which powers the sun and other stars. Ontario Power Generation has supplied tritium to fusion research projects around the world.

Recently work has started on International Thermonuclear experimental Reactor (ITER), the world's largest fusion research reactor being built by an international team of researchers, governments and businesses in Cadarache, France. ITER hopes to unlock the secrets of fusion and harness fusion power to generate clean and abundant energy. The ITER research project will require tritium and Ontario Power Generation hopes to be a potential supplier.

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