What is the actual process of irradiation?
Three irradiation technologies exist, using three kinds of rays: gamma rays, electron beams, and x-rays. The first technology uses the radiation given off by a radioactive substance. This can be either a radioactive form of the element cobalt (Cobalt 60) or of the element cesium (Cesium 137). These substances give off high energy photons, called gamma rays, which can penetrate foods to a depth of several feet. These particular substances do not give off neutrons, which means they do not make anything around them radioactive. This technology has been used routinely for more than 30 years to sterilize medical, dental, and household products, and it is also used for radiation treatment of cancer. Radioactive substances emit gamma rays all the time. When not in use, the radioactive “source” is stored in a pool of water, which absorbs the radiation harmlessly and completely. To irradiate food or some other product, the source is pulled out of the water into a chamber with massive concrete w
Three different irradiation technologies exist, that use three different kinds of rays: gamma rays, electron beams and x-rays. The first technology uses the radiation given off by a radioactive substance. This can be either a radioactive form of the element cobalt (Cobalt 60) or of the element cesium (Cesium 137). These substances give off high energy photons, called gamma rays, which can penetrate foods to a depth of several feet. These particular substances do not give off neutrons, which means they do not make anything around them radioactive. This technology has been used routinely for more than thirty years to sterilize medical, dental and household products, and it is also used for radiation treatment of cancer. Radioactive substances emit gamma rays all the time. When not in use, the radioactive “source” is stored down in a pool of water which absorbs the radiation harmlessly and completely. To irradiate food or some other product, the source is pulled up out of the water into a
There are three different irradiation technologies that use different kinds of rays: gamma rays, electron beams, and x-rays. The first technology uses the radiation given off by a radioactive substance. This can be either a radioactive form of the element cobalt (Cobalt 60) or of the element cesium (Cesium 137). These substances give off gamma rays, which can penetrate foods to a depth of several feet. But they do not make anything around them radioactive. This technology has been used routinely for more than thirty years to sterilize medical, dental, and household products, and it is also used for radiation treatment of cancer. Radioactive substances emit gamma rays all the time. When not in use, the radioactive “source” is stored in a pool of water, which absorbs the radiation harmlessly and completely. Electron beams, or e-beams, are produced in a different way. The e-beam is a stream of high-energy electrons, propelled out of an electron gun. This electron beam generator can be swi
