Very cool news on the Physics phront

The primary manufacturer of medical isotopes has been the USA but we have been slacking. Funding for the machinery has been cut by the current regime. Fortunately, our neighbors to the north are stepping up to the plate. From Canada Views:

Nearly $31M Supports World-Class Isotope Research
A $30.7-million provincial investment in one of the world�s top subatomic physics labs is expected to help lead the way in alleviating future medical isotope shortages, while keeping B.C. and Canada at the forefront of particle and nuclear physics, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

�B.C. has a well-earned international reputation for its contributions to nuclear medicine, which saves lives by detecting and treating cancer and heart disease,� Premier Campbell said. �Our latest investment in TRIUMF will provide the tools to demonstrate one new way to produce the radio isotopes needed by doctors and patients everywhere, and to help Canada continue its leadership in emerging global industries based on nuclear physics.�

This funding announcement supports ARIEL (Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory), a $62.9-million project to build an underground beam tunnel that will surround a ground-breaking linear accelerator. ARIEL will allow TRIUMF to broaden its research in producing and studying isotopes for medicine and physics, including materials science.

The linear accelerator, or e-linac, will produce intense beams of particles to create isotopes of chemical elements. It uses brand new technology developed in B.C. that produces some of the most powerful beams in the world: up to the equivalent of 5,000 light bulbs concentrated in one square centimetre. In addition to medical applications, the laboratory will expand TRIUMF�s capacity for addressing a wide range of issues, including reducing fertilizer runoff, making paper mills more efficient, and developing systems to remove pollutants created by coal-fired plants around the world.

In addition to the Province�s $30.7-million contribution, ARIEL is being supported by $14.4 million through TRIUMF and its partners and $17.8 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The foundation�s contribution directly supports the linear accelerator portion of the project, which is led by the University of Victoria.

The TRIUMF accelerator is actually an older unit -- it had its first light back in 1968. In the USA, when a machine like this is no longer able to support cutting edge research, it is sold off for scrap. In Canada, they take the lemons and make lemonade. A lot of lemonade -- the isotopes have a commercial value:

ARIEL is projected to increase the province�s gross domestic product by an estimated $70 million over five years, and to result in $7.5 million added provincial tax revenues over the same period.

�The project will also create 160 spinoff jobs in the private sector, universities and other research agencies � not to mention 90 person-years of employment during construction,� said Iain Black, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development.

For more on the isotope shortage, read here. As for: "reducing fertilizer runoff, making paper mills more efficient, and developing systems to remove pollutants created by coal-fired plants around the world" Research in these topics are aided by small amounts of short-lived isotopes than can help trace the flow of materials through a given system. These are #1) - very low level of radiation and #2) - pretty much undetectable after a few weeks. Very short lived and very small concentrations. Their usefulness comes from having a distinct 'signature' so it can be detected without being confused by all of the natural background radiation we have on this planet.