Canada restarting reactor to address worldwide shortage of critical medical radioisotopes

Canada's state-owned atomic energy company says it is restarting a nuclear reactor whose shutdown created a critical shortage of radioactive isotopes used to diagnose and treat cancer patients in Canada, the U.S. and many other nations.

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. said Thursday that it expected to begin producing the medical isotopes within seven or eight days.

The announcement came a day after the Canadian government scrambled to pass legislation allowing the company to bypass Canada's nuclear safety watchdog and immediately restart the 50-year-old reactor at Chalk River, Ontario.

The reactor was shut down Nov. 18 for maintenance and was …