The practice for eight-year operation of the cobalt-60 irradiation facility at Beijing Radiation Application Research Center

The radiation facility was made by Sulzer Company in Switzerland. The designed capacity is 3.7 × 10¹⁶Bq( 1MCi) and 12.21 × 10¹⁵Bq(330kCi)of Cobalt -60 source was loaded at the first phase. Current cobalt -60 source-loading is 2.4 × 10¹⁶Bq(650kCi). The equipment assembling and installation regulating and testing were completed at the end of 1988. The facility was put into commissioning in 1989. It operates 7000–8000 hours per year. The facility has been utilized to carry out many research work and irradiate many kinds of items. Lots of economical benefits have been gained since then. Now it is becoming a radiation processing model base in China. This paper summarized the strong and weak points of the design of the facility through in eight years' practice and analysed the economical benefits.     

The effect of ionising radiation on poly(methyl methacrylate) used in intraocular lenses

Gamma radiation is increasingly being used to sterilise intraocular lenses (IOLs) made from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). In this study, samples of PMMA used in the fabrication of IOLs were exposed to irradiation doses typically used for their sterilisation. The effect of this treatment on the polymer was analysed by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), UV-visible and infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PMMA was found to have undergone chain scission, decarboxylation and colour change following the irradiation.     

The efficacy and progress in using radiation as a quarantine treatment of tropical fruits—a case study in Hawaii

Most tropical fruits for export must be treated with an approved quarantine treatment. Three and a half decades of research have demonstrated the efficacy of irradiation as a quarantine treatment in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and product quality retention. The USFDA and the USDA-APHIS approved irradiation to disinfest fresh foods/fresh papayas in 1986 and 1989, respectively. In early 1995, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture was granted a special permit from USDA-APHIS allowing untreated Hawaiian fruits to be irradiated on the US mainland. The objectives were to gain experience in commercial irradiation as a quarantine treatment and to gather data on shipping and handling procedures, and on product quality. In April 1995, the first shipment of Hawaiian fruit was irradiated at a minimum quarantine dose of 0.25 kGy in an Isomedix plant near Chicago, and then distributed to supermarkets in Illinois and Ohio. Continuous shipments, irradiation, and marketing of various tropical fruits in the US have shown commercial efficacy, quality retention, and excellent consumer acceptance. A commercial e-beam/converted X-ray facility was installed by Titan Corp. on the Island of Hawaii and was operational by late July 2000. Hawaii has become the first place in the world to use irradiation as a quarantine treatment of fruits.     

聚丙烯纤维辐射接枝进展

本文对聚丙烯纤维的辐射接枝方法、特征和机理、以及其研究进展和表征进行了扼要综述。     

Comparative identification of irradiated herbs by the methods of electron paramagnetic resonance and thermoluminescence

Non irradiated and γ-irradiated dry herbs savoury (Savoury), wild thyme (Thymus serpollorium) and marjoram (Origanum) with absorbed dose of 8 kGy have been investigated by the methods of elecrtron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and thermoluminescence (TL). Non-irradiated herbs exhibit only one weak siglet EPR signal whereas in irradiated samples its intensity increase and in addition two satelite lines are recorded. This triplet EPR spectrum is attributed to cellulose free radical generated by irradiation. It has been found that upon keeping the samples under the normal stock conditions the life-time of the cellulose free radical in the examined samples is ∼60–80 days. Thus the conclusion has been made that the presence of the EPR signal of cellulose free radical is unambiguous indication that the sample under study has been irradiated but its absence can not be considered as the opposite evidence. In the case when EPR signal was absent the method of TL has been used to give the final decision about the previous radiation treatment of the sample.     

Economics of food irradiation

The number of products being radiation processed worldwide is constantly increasing and today includes such diverse items as medical disposables, fruits and vegetables, spices, meats, seafoods and waste products. This range of products to be processed has resulted in a wide range of irradiator designs and capital and operating cost requirements.This paper discusses the economics of low dose food irradiation applications and the effects of various parameters on unit processing costs. It provides a model for calculating specific unit processing costs by correlating known capital costs with annual operating costs and annual throughputs. It is intended to provide the reader with a general knowledge of how unit processing costs are derived.     

Effect of dose rate of gamma irradiation on biochemical quality and browning of mushrooms Agaricus bisporus

In order to enhance the shelf-life of edible mature mushrooms Agaricus bisporus, 2 kGy ionising treatments were applied at two different dose rates: 4.5 kGy/h (I⁻) and 32 kGy/h (I⁺). Both I⁺ and I⁻ showed 2 and 4 days shelf-life enhancement compared to the control (C). Before day 9, no significant difference (p>0.05) in L^* value was detected in irradiated mushrooms. However, after day 9, the highest observed L^* value (whiteness) was obtained for the mushrooms irradiated in I⁻. Analyses of phenolic compounds revealed that mushrooms in I⁻ contained more phenols than I⁺ and C, the latter containing the lower level of phenols. The polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities of irradiated mushrooms, analysed via catechol oxidase and dopa oxidase substrates, resulted in being significantly lowered (p0.05) compared to C, with a further decrease in I⁺. Analyses of the enzymes indicated that PPO activity was lower in I⁺, contrasting with its lower phenol concentration. Ionising treatments also increased significantly (p0.05) the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity. The observation of mushrooms cellular membranes, by electronic microscopy, revealed a better preserved integrity in I⁻ than in I⁺. It is thus assumed that the browning effect observed in I⁺ was caused by both the decompartimentation of vacuolar phenol and by the entry of molecular oxygen into the cell cytoplasm. The synergetic effect of the residual active PPO and the molecular oxygen, in contact with the phenols, allowed an increased oxidation rate and, therefore, a more pronounced browning in I⁺ than in I⁻.     

Radiolytic unsaturation decay in polyethylene. Part II—the effect of irradiation temperature, thermal history and orientation

The decay rate of vinyl unsaturation in high-density polyethylenes irradiated at temperatures from about 310 to 450 K, changes significantly in the melting range up to the crystalline melting point as does free radical mobility and the polymer crystallinity. However, orienting the polymer, or slow cooling or quenching from the melt, prior to irradiation, do not alter the decay process or its rate, although they do alter the rate of increase of insoluble gel and of elastic modulus in the molten state. It is suggested that, below 340 K, the marked deviations from a first-order decay result from the limited mobility of polymeric free radicals in the crystalline phase and from scavenging, by vinyl groups, segregated into the amorphous phase, of radiolytic hydrogen atoms (H). In the melting range, the mobility of polymeric free radicals increases as the crystallinity decreases, reducing the importance of scavenging, so vinyl decay approximates more closely to a first-order relation. In the melt, the vinyl decay relation is not changed qualitatively by H atom scavenging, but the effective vinyl concentration is lower, so the decay rate drops sharply.     

高功率毫米波辐照鼠疼痛阈值及应激反应

 高功率8 mm波辐照时,大小鼠均产生热应激反应,依次经历平静期、警戒期、相持期和衰竭期。鼠的热痛阈值温度为(43.1±1.8) ℃,这一阈值与鼠的质量、初始温度、辐照功率密度等无关。 辐照3 s时：辐照功率密度为3.5 W/cm2时体表温升为(8.4±1.0) ℃;辐照功率密度为7.0 W/cm2时温升为(21.1±3.0) ℃。实验还测定了警戒期持续时间,结果表明动物应激反应的剧烈程度与警戒期持续时间相关。建立了小鼠警戒期持续时间与小鼠体表面积、有效辐照面积、辐照功率密度之间的关系,并将这一实验结果推广到大鼠。     

氢等离子体特性及其对钨的辐照行为研究

本文依托四川大学直线等离子体装置(SCU-PSI)产生高通量氢等离子体,采用朗缪尔探针对氢等离子体特性进行诊断,研究了氢等离子体特性随放电电流、气体流量等输入条件的演变规律;并利用调控产生的氢等离子体对纯钨进行了相应的辐照研究. 实验结果显示, 在磁场0.1~0.2 T、气流量1 000~2 200 sccm和电流180~228 A范围内,氢等离子体通量密度、热负荷密度及电子密度、温度等参数与磁场和电流呈正相关关系,而与气体流量呈负相关关系. 在该范围内,最高等离子体密度达到2.6×1019 m-3,等离子体通量达到8.8×1022 m-2?s-1,热负荷达到6.5×104 W/m2. 利用调控产生的等离子体对纯钨样品进行初步辐照实验,结果显示随着入射等离子体特性的不同,样品表面出现不同程度的尺寸和密度不均匀颗粒状辐照损伤结构,并且颗粒尺寸随氢等离子体离子通量的增加而增大. 本文结果显示SCU-PSI可以产生理想的氢等离子体环境,因此可以作为未来聚变领域,研究氢等离子体和托卡马克装置面向等离子体材料钨以及相应结构材料相互作用的有效实验装置.