Nordion Reports First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

First Quarter Financial Results Demonstrate Stability for Nordion

OTTAWA, March 10, 2011 -

    Highlights:
    - Extended sales contract with major customer Lantheus Medical Imaging
      until 2013
    - Announced return of cash to shareholders through dividend and Normal
      Course Issuer Bid (NCIB)
    - Achieved cost savings following completion of strategic repositioning

Nordion reports in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified

Nordion Inc. (TSX: NDN) (NYSE: NDZ), a leading
provider of products and services to the global health sciences market,
announced today first quarter 2011 revenues from continuing operations of
$70.0 million, up 54% from $45.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
Income from continuing operations was $23.4 million ($0.35 earnings per
share), compared with a loss from continuing operations of $43.3 million
($0.36 loss per share) in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

"Nordion demonstrated solid financial results in the first quarter," said
Mr. Steve West, Chief Executive Officer, Nordion Inc. "We saw a significant
improvement in profitability as we realized cost savings resulting from the
completion of our strategic repositioning, improved performance in our
Medical Isotopes and Targeted Therapies businesses, and results that were in
line with the Company's expectations in our Sterilization Technologies
business."

    Key Q1 2011 Events:
    - On November 1, 2010, the Company completed its name change from MDS
      Inc. to Nordion Inc.
    - On December 2, 2010, Nordion announced it had signed a non-binding
      letter of intent to divest its Belgian subsidiary, MDS Nordion S.A.,
      excluding the TheraSphere business.
    - On December 23, 2010, Nordion announced that the first sample of Mo-99
      had been shipped from The Open Joint Stock Company "Isotope" (Isotope),
      the authorized subsidiary of Rosatom State Corporation, to Nordion, for
      qualification testing.
    - On January 5, 2011, Nordion announced it had extended its Mo-99 supply
      contract with a major customer, Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., until
      December 31, 2013.
    - On January 20, 2011, Nordion announced the introduction of a quarterly
      dividend of $0.10 per share and an NCIB program.
    - On January 25, 2011, Nordion entered a five-year cobalt-60 (Co-60)
      supply agreement with Sterigenics International, extending its existing
      agreement with the contract sterilization and ionization company.

    Subsequent to the quarter:
    - On February 21, 2011, Nordion announced it signed a share purchase
      agreement with Best Medical to divest MDS Nordion S.A., the Company's
      Belgian operations.
    - As of March 9, 2011, Nordion had repurchased 2.8 million common shares
      at a cost of $32.7 million.

Medical Isotopes Update

As previously reported, the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
currently anticipates an approximately one-month long planned shutdown of
the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor beginning in mid-May 2011.
While Nordion may be in a position to provide limited quantities of supply
that is licensed for distribution to customers during the shutdown, the
Company's current expectation is that it will not have commercial
quantities of Mo-99 from its Russian partner, Isotope as back up supply
during the NRU reactor outage.

Nordion continues to work with Isotope to improve its supply chain
reliability by bringing on line this important back up supply of Mo-99 for
its customers. In addition, Nordion continues to work with existing and
potential new customers to increase the Company's market share for Mo-99.
However, Nordion may not gain new customer orders until later in the year.

Returns to Shareholders

In January 2011, the Company announced a re-initiation of an NCIB, which
was authorized by the Toronto Stock Exchange, to purchase for cancellation up
to 5,677,108 Common shares. During the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the
Company repurchased 316,364 common shares for a total cost of $3.5 million,
which were cancelled subsequent to January 31, 2011.

In January 2011, the Company also declared a quarterly dividend at $0.10
per share, which will be paid on April 1, 2011 to the Company's shareholders
on record as of March 17, 2011. The Company's initial quarterly dividend is
expected to result in a $6.5 million payment to shareholders.

    First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results

    Financial Results - Consolidated

                                             Three months ended January 31
                                                2011                  2010
    Consolidated Results
    (thousands of U.S. dollars, except
    where noted)
    Revenues from continuing operations     $   69,982          $     45,474
    Operating income (loss) from
    continuing operations                   $   30,584          $   (43,646)
    Income (loss) from continuing
    operations                              $   23,427          $   (43,319)
                      - Basic earnings
                      (loss) per share from
                      continuing operations $     0.35          $     (0.36)
    Net income (loss)                       $   21,546          $  (142,876)
    Cash and cash equivalents               $  107,932          $    870,536
    Share buyback
                      - number of shares       316,364                     -
    Weighted average number of Common           67,133               120,137
    shares outstanding - basic (thousands
    of shares)

    - Consolidated revenues from continuing operations in the first quarter
      of fiscal 2011 were $70.0 million, up $24.5 million or 54%, compared
      with the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The increase was primarily due
      to increased revenues from Medical Isotopes as a result of the NRU
      reactor resuming operations in August 2010 and higher Targeted
      Therapies revenues primarily due to increased shipments of
      TheraSphere(R) and CardioGen-82TM products.
    - Gross margin was 50%, compared with 41% in the first quarter of the
      previous fiscal year due to the NRU reactor resuming operations.

    - Operating income from continuing operations in the first quarter of
      fiscal 2011 was $30.6 million, up from a loss of $43.6 million in the
      first quarter of fiscal 2010. Improved segment earnings from Medical
      Isotopes and Targeted Therapies and lower corporate selling, general
      and administrative expense contributed to the increase in operating
      income. A favourable $18.6 million change in the fair value of embedded
      derivatives primarily associated with the Company's Russian Mo-99
      supply agreement and a $33.7 million restructuring charge in the first
      quarter of fiscal 2010 accounted for the remainder of the increase.

    Financial Results - Segment

                                       Three months ended January 31
    (thousands of U.S. dollars)               Segment
                                               Gross                Gross
                                    2011      Margin       2010    Margin
    Revenues from continuing operations

    Medical Isotopes             $  29,495       52% $    7,880       13%
    Targeted Therapies              17,819       46%     14,752       41%
    Sterilization Technologies      22,668       49%     22,842       51%
    Consolidated Revenues from
    continuing operations           69,982       50%     45,474       41%

                                              Segment
                                             Operating            Operating
                                     2011     Margin       2010    Margin

    Segment earnings (loss)(a)
    Medical Isotopes             $  11,064       38% $   (2,393)     (30%)
    Targeted Therapies               3,494       20%      2,159       15%
    Sterilization Technologies       7,208       32%      8,007       35%
    Corporate and Other             (1,194)       -     (12,288)       -
    Consolidated Segment earnings
    from continuing operations   $  20,572       29% $   (4,515)     (10%)

(a) Segment earnings exclude Depreciation and Amortization, AECL
arbitration costs, change in fair value of embedded derivatives and
restructuring (recovery) charges.

Medical Isotopes

Medical Isotopes revenues of $29.5 million increased by $21.6 million in
the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with the same quarter in fiscal
2010, primarily due to a resumption of sales of NRU-based isotopes following
the restart of the NRU reactor in August 2010. The positive impact of the NRU
reactor-based isotope revenue was partially offset by a 23% decrease in
cyclotron isotopes revenue due to a decline in Thallium-201 sales.

Targeted Therapies

Targeted Therapies revenues of $17.8 million increased by $3.1 million,
or 21%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with the same quarter
in fiscal 2010, reflecting strong performance by TheraSphere(R) and
CardioGen-82(TM) products.

Sterilization Technologies

Sterilization Technologies revenues of $22.7 million decreased $0.2
million or 1% in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with the same
quarter in fiscal 2010, primarily due to a decrease in shipment volumes.

Corporate and Other

Corporate and Other recorded a loss of $1.2 million in the first quarter
of fiscal 2011, down $11.1 million, compared with a loss of $12.3 million in
the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The decrease was primarily due to
completion of the strategic repositioning in fiscal 2010.

Discontinued Operations

Nordion recorded a loss from discontinued operations, net of tax, of $1.9
million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with a loss of $100.0
million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The decrease was primarily due
to completion of the strategic repositioning in fiscal 2010.

A full copy of Nordion's first quarter 2011 Management's Discussion and
Analysis and the financial statements and notes (unaudited) can be downloaded
at www.nordion.com/investors/financial_results.asp.

Conference Call

Nordion will hold a conference call on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 9:30
am ET to discuss its first quarter 2011 results. This call will be webcast
live at www.nordion.com, and will be available after the call in
archived format at
www.nordion.com/investors/webcasts_and_presentations.asp. To
participate, please dial 1-866-226-1793 (toll-free North America) or
1-416-340-2218 (International).

About Nordion Inc.

Nordion Inc. (TSX: NDN) (NYSE: NDZ) is a global specialty health science
company that provides market-leading products and services used for the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. We are a leading provider of
medical isotopes, targeted therapies and sterilization technologies that
benefit the lives of millions of people in more than 60 countries around the
world. Our products are used daily by pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies, medical-device manufacturers, hospitals, clinics and research
laboratories. Nordion has more than 600 highly skilled employees in four
locations. Find out more at www.nordion.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking statements
within the meaning of certain securities laws, including under applicable
Canadian securities laws and the "safe harbour" provisions of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This document
contains forward-looking statements including the strategy of the continuing
businesses, as well as statements with respect to our beliefs, plans,
objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. The words
"may", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "believe", "plan",
"anticipate", "estimate", "project", "expect", "intend", "indicate",
"forecast", "objective", "optimistic", and words and expressions of similar
import, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, both general and specific, which give rise to the
possibility that predictions, forecasts, projections and other
forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution readers not to
place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors
could cause our actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans,
objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed
in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not
limited to: management of operational risks; our ability to secure a reliable
supply of raw materials, particularly cobalt and critical medical isotopes;
the effects of competition in the markets in which we operate; our ability to
manage long-term supply commitments; our reliance on one customer for the
majority of our sales of medical isotopes; our ability to maintain regulatory
approval for the manufacturing, distribution and sale of our products; the
strength of the global economy, in particular the economies of Canada, the
U.S., the European Union, Asia, and the other countries in which we conduct
business; the stability of global equity markets; assets and liabilities that
we retained from the businesses sold; obligations retained and projected
adjustments thereto; successful implementation of structural changes,
including restructuring plans; our ability to complete other strategic
transactions and to execute them successfully; our ability to negotiate
future credit agreements, which may or may not be on terms favorable to us;
the impact of the movement of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies,
particularly the Canadian dollar and the euro; changes in interest rates in
Canada, the U.S., and elsewhere; the timing and technological advancement of
new products introduced by us or by our competitors; our ability to manage
our research and development; the impact of changes in laws, trade policies
and regulations including health care reform, and enforcement thereof;
regulatory actions; judicial judgments and legal proceedings, including legal
proceedings described in this document; our ability to maintain adequate
insurance; our ability to successfully realign our organization, resources
and processes; our ability to retain key personnel; our ability to have
continued and uninterrupted performance of our information technology and
financial systems; our ability to compete effectively; the risk of
environmental liabilities; new accounting standards that impact the policies
we use to report our financial condition and results of operations;
uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates;
the possible impact on our businesses from third-party special interest
groups; our ability to negotiate and maintain collective-bargaining
agreements for certain of our employees; natural disasters; public health
emergencies and pandemics; international conflicts and other developments
including those relating to terrorism; other risk factors described in
section 5 of our AIF; and our success in anticipating and managing these
risks.

The foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not
exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions
with respect to the Company, investors and others should carefully consider
the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. We do not
undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral,
that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required
by law.

    For further information:

    CONTACTS:

    INVESTORS:
    Ana Raman
    +1-613-595-4580
    investor.relations@nordion.com

    MEDIA:
    Tamra Benjamin
    +1-613-592-3400 x. 1022
    tamra.benjamin@nordion.com

CONTACTS: INVESTORS: Ana Raman, +1-613-595-4580, investor.relations at nordion.com; MEDIA: Tamra Benjamin, +1-613-592-3400 x. 1022, tamra.benjamin at nordion.com