Laurentis Energy Partners and BWX Technologies (BWXT) have entered into a partnership where Laurentis will provide irradiation services to produce Molybdenum-99 at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, located in the Durham Region, east of Toronto.

This historic supply agreement paves the way for Laurentis to strengthen its social license on the world stage. Used in over 30 million diagnostic and medical imaging tests each year, the molybdenum produced at Darlington will help detect illnesses like cancer and heart disease in Canadian patients and around the world.

This is the first agreement of this kind in North America and the first time a commercial operating nuclear reactor will be used in the irradiation process. Leveraging Ontario’s existing nuclear assets will optimize the implementation of this industry leading system. Partnered with BWXT, Laurentis will become a leading supplier of Molybdenum-99 in the North American market, helping to revitalize Canada’s medical isotope industry and opening doors for future research and market opportunities in this growing industry.

The unique design of Darlington’s CANDU reactors, allows for irradiation to occur without interrupting the station’s ongoing generation of clean power for the province of Ontario. Once removed from the reactor, BWXT will utilize its proprietary technology to refine and process the Molybdenum-99 into Technetium-99m, the final product used in diagnostic imaging processes.

Laurentis performed specialized Operating Deflection Shape (ODS) testing for the synchronous condensers for Nalcor Energy’s Muskrat Falls Project in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 2019, Laurentis was asked to inspect a nuclear fuel channel at a client site. The work was successfully completed on time and on budget with no safety issues.  As part of the inspection, we reviewed the client’s fuel channel lifecycle management plans and provided detailed recommendations in order to provide maximum optimization based on our operating expertise.

We also assessed our client’s Replicas to support fitness for service requirements. Throughout this inspection, we provided engineering, radiation protection, and operations support. Laurentis also supported regulatory reporting activities (e.g. analysis of data according to CSA N285.4 requirements).

Laurentis has successfully completed numerous Spacer Location and Repositioning (SLAR) campaigns for one of our clients. Completing a SLAR Campaign is vital for extending the life of a reactor by repositioning the fuel channel garter sprints to ensure we maintain adequate space between the pressure and calandria tubes. Outside of the on-channel inspection for our client, we also maintained, calibrated, tested, and commissioned all the SLAR equipment to make sure it was ready to use.

In 2012, Laurentis Energy Partners was a key partner for bringing New Brunswick Power’s Point Lepreau Generating Station back online. Laurentis helped NB Power work its way through the refurbishment of its Point Lepreau nuclear station. The project took 3 years to complete and Laurentis worked diligently in a variety of capacities to fix the issue at hand. While Laurentis was on-site, Point Lepreau achieved improvement as measured by the World Association of Nuclear Operators Peer Review.