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The private company that sells medical isotopes produced at an aging reactor in Chalk River, Ont., warned on Nov. 30 – three days before anyone in the Conservative government said they knew about it – that the supply of the radioactive material would be limited by an extended shutdown.

Emergency legislation last week put the reactor back in operation. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his government's frustration with the episode yesterday, suggesting that Canada may sell all or part of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a Crown corporation.

“We are not taking any options off the table,” he told Bloomberg News, when asked whether a sale will be considered.

The warning from the private company came in a letter to customers.

“MDS Nordion has received information from their primary supplier regarding an interruption” in the supply of isotopes as a result of upgrades to the reactor that were being demanded by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the company said.

“Based on our current information, an approval of the upgrade plan is anticipated shortly with a targeted return to full production in mid-December,” said the letter that was made public in the form of a news release.

Because of the brief shelf life of medical isotopes, any unanticipated shutdown of the Chalk River reactor – which is responsible for most of the North American supply – can reduce their availability. In the final days of November, some hospitals were already having to curtail tests and procedures.

But the government was apparently unaware of the magnitude of the crisis that was unfolding. Gary Lunn, minister of Natural Resources, says he didn't learn of the situation at the AECL-owned reactor until Dec. 3.

Mr. Lunn, who has been silent on the matter this week, was not available for comment again yesterday. His office directed questions to Health Minister Tony Clement, who says he became aware of the problem on Dec. 5.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Clement said yesterday that thousands of news releases are issued daily. The MDS news release was not brought to the attention of the minister's office by Health Canada officials, nor is there any indication the department ever received it, she said, pointing out that it also escaped the attention of news outlets.

“MDS Nordion did not call us. The minister was unaware of it. … It went unnoticed.”

Shelley Maclean, Nordion's communications manager, said a lot of people did see the release and, given that AECL and the CNSC were both actively involved, “we assumed the right people were being informed of this situation.”

Michael Burns, who recently resigned as chairman of AECL, has said both he and Mr. Lunn were advised on Nov. 22 that the reactor would not return to operation as expected after a routine maintenance shutdown. And an aide to the Natural Resources Minister has confirmed that an e-mail was sent on that day to three senior departmental officials and to a seconded civil servant in the minister's office.

The apparent lack of communication, and the government's failure to get involved at an early stage, has provided fodder for critics who attacked Mr. Lunn's handling of the situation.

But Mr. Burns says he wouldn't have expected politicians, including Mr. Lunn, to intervene any sooner than they did. The government had to let the AECL and the CNSC try to find a way to resolve their dispute, Mr. Burns said in an interview yesterday.

Mr. Lunn “was there when he needed to be and they had to let the staff work that first week to try to get a solution,” he said.

“We escalated it to the minister and he answered the bell in a heartbeat; he was there, he did all the things he had to do. When he hit the wall, he sent it up to the PM and Parliament. And that's the only way the system could work.”

Mr. Burns said the system could be improved by the establishment of a mediator who could intervene when the AECL and the CNSC reach an impasse. “There is no other way to resolve that conflict if both parties dig in.”