Do irradiation facilities have radioactive waste disposal problems?
No. The food irradiation facilities themselves do not become radioactive, and do not create radioactive waste. Cobalt 60 is manufactured in a commercial nuclear reactor, by exposing non-radioactive cobalt to intense radiation in the reactor core. The cobalt sources used in irradiation facilities decay by 50% in five years, and therefore require periodic replacement. The sources are removed from the irradiator when the radioactivity falls to a low level, usually between 6% and 12% of the initial level (this takes 16 to 21 years for cobalt-60). The small radioactive cobalt pencils are shipped back to the original nuclear reactor, where they can be re-activated for further use. The shipment occurs in special hardened steel canisters that have been designed and tested to survive crashes without breaking. Cobalt is a solid metal, and even if somehow something should break, it will not spread through the environment. Cobalt 60 may also be disposed of as a radioactive waste. Given its relativ
