At a glance
OPG’s Pickering Nuclear Station recently saw a record haul of life-saving Cobalt-60 isotopes, which were harvested during a maintenance outage.
This important by-product of nuclear fission is used to irradiate and sterilize 30% of the world’s single-use medical devices.
Pickering Nuclear has been producing Cobalt-60 isotopes since 1971 and is set to continue to build on this legacy after the station’s refurbishment.
Pickering Nuclear workers prepare Cobalt-60 isotopes after a harvest.
OPG’s Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is continuing to play a critical role in safeguarding the health of millions of people around the world.
In late 2025, the station and its team achieved a record harvest of life-saving Cobalt-60 (Co-60) isotopes, which are used to sterilize 30% of the world’s single-use medical devices, such as gloves, implants, and syringes, preventing countless infections.
The record-setting haul, which took place during a maintenance outage on Pickering’s Unit 6, is enough to sterilize roughly 4.3 billion medical syringes.
“We celebrate this major milestone in Pickering Nuclear’s 55-year history of producing Cobalt-60,” said Nicolle Butcher, President and CEO of OPG. “And we take great pride in this station’s continuing role in keeping millions of people in Ontario and around the world healthy and safe.”
The hard-working plant, which meets roughly 11% of Ontario’s electricity needs, began producing the isotope in 1971, making it the first Ontario generating station to produce this critical nuclear product. Today, isotopes harvested at the plant are delivered to Nordion, an Ottawa-based health sciences company, to be manufactured into finished product and distributed to gamma sterilization facilities around the world.
Now, as OPG plans for the refurbishment of Pickering’s Units 5 to 8, the station is set to continue to provide a stable and secure supply of Co-60 for the world, pending ongoing technical, operational, and economic reviews.
Outside of Pickering Nuclear, OPG is now producing Co-60 at its Darlington Nuclear station. The company and its subsidiary, Laurentis Energy Partners, also continue to produce several other important isotopes to help save lives, improve society, and fuel research in next-generation clean energy advances, including fusion.
Ontario’s CANDU reactors produce 50% of the world’s supply of Cobalt-60 isotopes. Co-60 emits gamma radiation which is an important weapon in the fight against bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants.
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