Nordion

Nordion Inc. is a health science company that provides products used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. The company supplies sterilization technologies and medical isotopes to customers in more than 40 countries around the world.

Nordion is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with facilities in Vancouver, British Columbia and Laval, Quebec. Steve West is the company's CEO.

History

Founded in 1946, originally the radium sales department of Eldorado Mining and Refining Ltd., the division developed one of the first teletherapy units that used the radioisotope cobalt-60 to destroy cancerous tumours.

Soon after, the division was given responsibility for selling radioisotopes produced by the newly established nuclear research facility at Chalk River, Ontario. As a result, in 1951, Eldorado established a commercial products division (CPD) to manage the isotope business, especially cobalt-60 used in cancer treatment.

In 1952, the federal government created Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a Crown corporation. Shortly thereafter, CPD was transferred to AECL, where it remained for the next 40 years and was renamed the radio-chemical division.