This week, the IAEA has been hosting the Second International Conference on Applications of Radiation Science and Technology (ICARST), an in-person and virtual conference exploring key developments in the applications of radiation science and technology. If you’re interested in attending virtually, you can still do so by registering.
The word ‘radiation’ strikes fear in some people, but irradiation has played an invisible, beneficial, and often critical role in industry and food safety for over 100 years. Whether applied to sterilizing medical devices, sanitizing fresh produce or strengthening industrial polymers, irradiation technologies are an integral part of the modern world. To better understand the importance of industrial irradiation, and learn how its technologies are developing, we spoke to Paul Wynne, Chairman and Director General of the International Irradiation Association (iia). The iia is a not-for-profit organization made up of corporations, research institutes, universities and governmental bodies from around the world. It supports the global irradiation industry and scientific community.
Q: Where has accelerator-based industrial irradiation had the most impact and where do you see this technology moving?
A: Accelerators have been used on an industrial scale for about 60 years to improve the properties of polymers. One of the main applications is the treatment of cable insulators to increase their resistance to high temperatures, which contributes to fire safety and equipment durability. There are many other applications based on other chemical modifications induced by electron beams, such as the creation of wood–plastic composite for flooring or the manufacture of foams used in the automotive industry. Many of these applications are proprietary and applied on manufacturing sites. The introduction of high-power accelerators broadened the range of products that could be processed, allowing the technology to compete with gamma irradiation emitted from the radioisotope cobalt-60. The expanded range of products that could be treated included the sterilization of medical devices and packaging, pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients, and the microbial control of food. To date, gamma irradiation has remained predominant for these applications.