Advances in Electron Beam and X‐ray Technologies for Food Irradiation

Irradiation of materials and commercial products with ionizing energy is widely used to improve their physical, chemical, or biological properties. Gamma rays from radioactive nuclides, energetic electrons from particle accelerators, and X-rays emitted by high-energy electrons are suitable kinds of radiant energy for such purposes. This chapter describes the relevant characteristics of these energy sources, methods for generating sufficient emitted power to support industrial applications, including food irradiation, and some examples of radiation processing facilities. Cobalt-60 (Co-60), the predominant nuclide for gamma ray facilities, is produced in a nuclear reactor. Industrial electron accelerators can provide electron energies from less than 100 keV to more than 10 MeV, and with beam power ratings extending up to 700 kW. A variety of accelerating methods are needed to cover this wide energy range. Techniques for irradiating full pallet loads of products are presented, including data on absorbed dose distributions and processing rates obtained by Monte Carlo simulations.