A Sustainable Sterilization Method

Gamma irradiation remains a preferred sterilization technology due to its simplicity and reliability in supporting the medical device, pharmaceutical and commercial industries.

Growing with Gamma

Gamma sterilization benefits from inherent scalability, meaning that a facility can start with a small amount of Cobalt and grow capacity over time. Nordion estimates that currently, the amount of Cobalt-60 installed globally is only about 70% of licensed capacity, leaving significant room for growth even without the addition of new facilities.

Global Supply Chain Reliability

With a large global network and decades of industry expertise, Gamma remains the ideal sterilization solution for single-use medical devices and other products. The network of nearly 300 gamma irradiation facilities established over the industry’s long history provides robust capacity for supply chains that rely on the critical sterilization step to get life-saving products to patients and healthcare providers. More than 20 new irradiation facilities have been built in 10 countries since 2015, and Nordion is involved in ongoing projects to build even more facilities, as gamma capacity continues to grow alongside demand.

Reducing our Carbon Footprint

Gamma irradiation is an environmentally sustainable choice for sterilization. Our current recycling program allows us to recycle more than 99% of the material returned from the field into new sources. Cobalt-60’s high energy density allows the radioisotope to be active in the field for roughly 20 years, the small carbon footprint associated with transportation is amortized over the life of the product.

Environmental Advantages

Gamma irradiation has significant environmental advantages over other industrial sterilization modalities¹. Using Cobalt-60 as a source of ionizing radiation drives 15X less electrical power consumption and 12X less greenhouse gas emissions than x-ray facilities, which consume large amounts of electricity, often generated by non-renewable technologies.

Of the 185M tons of Cobalt mined every year, only 500kg are needed to support the Cobalt-60 industry.

Gamma Sustainability Advantages¹

Gamma uses 15x less electrical power consumption than XRay (1255kw vs 85kw). Gamma generates 12x less greenhouse gasses in one year than XRay (80000 t vs 6500 t). 99% of Cobalt returned from the field gets recycled.

Gamma vs. X-ray: Comparison of Environmental Impact⁵

¹ Analysis builds on the analytical framework examined by the Gamma Industry Processing Alliance (GIPA) and the International Irradiation Association (iia) and published as A Comparison of Gamma, E-beam, X-ray and Ethylene Oxide Technologies for the Sterilization of Medical Devices and Healthcare Products on August 31, 2017.

² Includes estimates of the operation of irradiation and related handling equipment plus warehouse and office.

³ Includes estimates for operation of accelerator including cooling and related handling equipment plus warehouse and office.

⁴ Estimates over 20-year operating life using average current California electricity emissions intensity. For Cobalt-60, reflects transportation of initial load plus annual replenishment shipments to California, production in Ottawa from Canadian and overseas sources of Cobalt-60.

⁵ Large scale industrial X-ray vs 5 MCi Gamma facility

⁶ From 2019 to 2021, Nordion has recycled more than 99% of the Co-60 in its end-of-life program

Certain statements made are forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of future performance or industry results and by their nature are subject to inherent uncertainties. Actual results or industry results may differ materially. Additional information concerning these statements, including factors that could cause our actual results or industry results to differ, can be found in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, such as its annual and quarterly reports. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.