Consequently, significant efforts were made to resolve the outstanding issues, but progress towards commissioning the reactors was markedly slowed. During the subsequent eight-year-long delay in the start of commercial production, the project significantly overran its budgeted cost. The original budget was $140 million, but by 2005 it had already cost $300 million. Disputes over responsibility for the overruns between AECL and MDS Nordion added a further layer of complexity to the process. After considerable negotiation, AECL assumed full responsibility for the reactor in a settlement.