Who makes sure that the irradiation facilities are operated safely?
The effectiveness of the treatment in eliminating pathogens will be regulated as a food safety process, by either the USDA or the FDA, often in concert with State authorities, just as is the case now for milk pasteurization or retort canning. The safety of operations of irradiation facilities is regulated separately. This requires extensive worker training, supervision, and regulatory oversight. Facilities using radioactive sources are regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). To be licensed, the facility must have been designed with multiple fail-safe measures, and must establish extensive and well documented safety procedures, and worker training. The safe transport of the radioactive sources is regulated by the Department of Transportation. E-beam and X-ray sources are not monitored by the NRC, but rather by the part of the FDA that regulates medical X-ray devices, and by the same State authorities that regulate other medical, dental and industrial uses of these technolo
