IMRP 2006 Papers

Arne Miller, IMRP 2006 | Business presentations of the IMRP-2006 - the 14th International Meeting of Radiation Processing held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - are reviewed. They represent significant technical developments that are of interest to the radiation processing community.

Gala Dinner, 2 March 2006 | Tonight we have the pleasure of introducing our newest IMRP 2006 Laureate Award winners:

• Dr. James Whitby for his outstanding contributions in advancing the science of radiation processing. Accepting this award on James behalf is Prof. Alan Tallentire.

• Dr. Theo Sadat is a very well known and highly respected individual that we are recognizing for his outstanding contributions in innovation and leadership in advancing radiation processing.

• John Corley for excellence and leadership in advancing radiation processing.

Paul Wynne, UK, 27 February 2006 | This paper focuses on the aims and achievements of the new international irradiation Association since the appointed of a new Board of Directors at IMRP 2003 in Chicago. It also covers the plans and objectives of the Association, and includes details on legal status, membership, funding and resources of the Association.

Ruth M. Brinston, Canada, 27 February 2008 | Everyone is continually looking for a competitive edge and better ways to market their business. This is especially true with radiation processing, given the global nature and maturity of this industry. This paper addresses many of the latest and best practices in e-Marketing.

Jamie Crighton, Australia, 3 March 2006 | The use of Gamma Irradiation was investigated to determine if it is possible to eliminate Legionella Longbeachae in potting mix. Due to increased Australian media reports relating to health issues caused by contamination of potting mix with Legionnaires Disease, a project was undertaken to establish if Legionella Longbeachae can be eliminated short and long term.

Joern Meissner, Germany, 1 March 2006 | The gamma irradiation industry has debated the question of tote box versus pallet irradiators at length. The answer cannot be generalized but depends on local parameters, especially on how the product is arriving at the irradiation center and how it is shipped from it. The customer's choice is then based on the economics of repacking and logistics as well as the required dose uniformity and production capacity.

M.G.Hristova-Tranteeva et. al., Bulgaria, 2 March 2006 | New types of self-shielded gamma irradiators have been designed and produced in Bulgaria for scientific research of gamma ray effects and their practical application on different materials. The gamma irradiators GOU-3M and NIGU-6 have large irradiation volumes (GOU-3M - 14 l + 5,7 l; NIGU-6 - 5,6 l), good homogeneity of the gamma fields, small overall dimensions, easy to use mechanics, fool-proof radiation protections, mechanical reliability during exploitation and relatively light biological shield (3,5 t and 4,2 t).

Paul Gray, Canada, 1 March 2008 |There are two critical aspects to ensuring the uninterrupted supply of Cobalt-60 sources to production irradiator operators around the world. First, long term agreements for production of Cobalt-60 in reactors must be established and maintained, while proactively seeking out and investing in new growth opportunities. Of equal importance is the ability to transport this Cobalt-60 to its final destination in a safe, secure, effective and efficient manner.

Eric Beers, Canada, 1 March 2006 | Innovation in the radiation processing industry comes in several ways and in many places. It can be seen in the novelty of irradiation facility design, in the supply strategies or in the operating processes to improve quality and economics. As part of a continuing investment in the industry, MDS Nordion has developed some unique innovations.

Shiyuan Guo et. al, China, 27 February 2006 | As a result of economic reform and globalization, the growth in industrial irradiation in China in the past few years has been significant. A large number of irradiation facilities have been built. There are now 24 facilities with greater than 1 MCi design capacity in operation in China.

M.I. Demsky et. al., Russia, 2 March 2006 | The UELR-10-10T 10 MeV, 10 kW linear accelerator has been developed for the irradiation of large-size objects. This linac has the standing wave accelerating structure of length 110 cm and the 2856 MHz working frequency. The accelerator is made on the basis of the 6 MW, 25 kW Russian klystron KUY-147A.

Wang Chuanzhen, China, 1 March 2006 | This paper introduces a new industrial Cobalt-60 γ Irradiator, which is a big-scale irradiator of safety, good-efficiency and multi-function. This type irradiator is not only good-efficiency but also good uniformity, and very flexible for treating various products.

Mark Smith, USA, 3 March 2006 | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Series number 107, guide "Radiation Safety of Gamma and Electron Irradiation Facilities," was issued 1992 and has served as a fundamental reference document for organizations planning to operate an irradiator and to the governments that are charged with regulating such facilities. Publication of subsequent documents expanded the scope of considerations for irradiators beyond what was envisioned in 1992.

F. Stichelbaut et. al. Belgium, 2 March 2006 | X-rays combine the penetration of gamma-rays with the flexibility of an accelerator. Based on the high power Rhodotron line of accelerators, IBA developed a range of simple configurations that fit the needs of medical device sterilization from 20 000 m³ to 190 000 m³ (700 000 to 7 M cubic feet) per year. The simplicity of the multi pallet batch rotating system (Tourniquet) is close to the one seen in a microwave oven.

A. A. Bryazgin, et. al. Russia, 1 March 2006 | The report describes the industrial electron accelerator ILU-10 for electron energy up to 5 MeV and beam power up to 50 kW specially designed for use in industrial applications. The ILU-10 accelerator is a novel development and it is mainly designed for the processes requiring high energies of electrons and beam power.

V. L. Auslender, Russia, 1 March 2006 | The report describes a project of industrial electron accelerator prototype for electron energy up to 5 MeV and beam power up to 300 kW specially designed for use in industrial applications. In the report the basic concepts and a state of the project for today are described.

A.G. Chmielewski, Poland, 1 March 2006 | The radiation sterilization of health care products and hygenization of selected food products play important role in any developed or developing country. Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (INCT) has been promoting radiation sterilization of medical devices and decontamination of spices and herbs with high-energy electrons for over 30 years.

Catherine M. Deeley et. al., 28 February 2006 | This report summarises the content of a tutorial on the development of food irradiation to-date with respect to legislation, volumes treated, plant development and market opportunities, presented at the 14th International Meeting on Radiation Processing in Kuala Lumpur in February 2006.

Richard G. Hunter, USA 2 March 2006 | The volume of fruits and vegetables irradiated for phytosanitary purposes will increase dramatically during the next decade. The irradiator type, product movement system, location and operational parameters of the irradiator are critical and careful selection is needed to achieve a functional and economical system. These factors are highly interrelated.

S. Guzmán, Mexico, 2 March 2006 | The treatment of foodstuff by gamma-irradiation has been showed to be an adequate technique for improving their hygienic quality and extending their shelf-life. Spices are widely used in the food industry and they are attractive candidates for irradiation. It is important assure an effective means for inactivating microorganism with a minimal chemical alteration and have reliable and sensitive detection methods for identification of radiation processing of the foodstuffs.

Rocco Basson, South Africa, 2 March 2008| The development of new markets, and expansion of lucrative markets, which are under supplied with fresh fruit form South Africa, is a strategic objective of the SA fruit industry. For example, the USA is a market with enormous growth potential. However, market access to the USA is complicated due to the occurrence of phytosanitary insects which may occur on fruit exported from South Africa.

Mihalis Cutrubinis, Romania, 2 March 2006 | IRASM Irradiation Center, the only provider of industrial scale irradiation services in Romania, operates a tote-box Co-60 irradiator and a microbiology laboratory. Because of the restrictive regulations and the public awareness against ionizing radiation, for now no food products are irradiated in Romania and no good perspectives can be drawn for the close future. In order to fulfill by Romania the European task for market survey, IRASM has established a laboratory for detection of irradiated foodstuffs.

Andrzej G. Chmielewski, Poland, 3 March 2006 | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been involved in fostering developments in new emerging fields of radiation technology applications and implementation of related projects in Member States for many years (Chmielewski and Haji-Saeid, 2004, 2005).

Ramamoorthy, N. et al., 27 February 2006 | The role of IAEA in fostering developments in the field of radiation technology in Member States is discussed in this paper. The different tools of implementation are presented, regarding regular development activities and Technical Cooperation projects, along with relevant examples.

Joachim Gehring, Germany, 28 February 2008 | Irradiation crosslinked components for industrial mass-production vehicles have been widely accepted for a long time. Among these products are irradiation vulcanized rubber for tires, heat shrinkable tubes for a wide range of applications inside the car, and foamed laminated plastic films.

A.K. Kohli, India 27 February 2006 | Radiation processing technology is well established in India for the processing of materials. The first plant for sterilization for medical products was commissioned in the year 1974. In early 80s, some pilot plants and two more commercial plants were built. India has come a long way since then in terms of development of all facets of radiation technology.

Dr. Sophie Rouif, France, 28 February 2006 | Irradiation of polymeric materials with U.V., Electron Beam, Gamma rays, RX creates free radicals. These ones can then be grafted with monomers presenting at least on chemical double bond like vinyl or acryl groups. Depending on the other chemical groups present on the monomer, some specific properties and characteristics can be conferred on the supporting material: antiseptic properties, ionic exchange capability, adhesion promoting ...

Ponomarev, V.N. et al, Russia, 2 March 2006 | The above considered processes of radiation technology allow a conclusion to be made about the status of irradiation operation only as one of technological operations in a work cycle of manufacture of a product.

Ponomarev, V.N. et. al., Russia, 2 March 2006 | Radiation sterilization of disposable medical products - industrial radiation-technological process, widely used in Russia. Annually in Russia up to 1.5 billion units of medical products is sterilized. At present the percentage of medical items sterilized by radiation is about 40% in Russia.

Nazly Hilmy et. al., Indonesia, 2 March 2006 | New emerging and re- emerging infectious diseases caused by viruses and prions are out breaking and re- out breaking around the world. Most of the viruses come from animals and jump to human such as corona virus ( SARS), HIV, bird flu type H5N1 , and West Nile viruses.

J. B. Kowalski et. al. Johnson & Johnson, USA 28 February, 2006 | The VDMAX approach to substantiation of a sterilization dose involves the calculation of a maximal acceptable verification dose (VDMAX) for a given bioburden and verification sample size. This approach, initially developed as a methodology for the substantiation for 25 kGy as a sterilization dose, provides a direct link between the outcome of the verification dose experiment and the attainment of an SAL of 10-6 at 25 kGy.

Aoshuang, Yan et. al., China, 1 March 2006 | A feasibility study has been carried out on setting a radiation facility at the end of collection line of infective medical wastes (IMW) in Beijing Youan Hospital, the biggest infective disease hospital in China. Medical wastes were classified into 6 types by physical characteristics. The contamination levels of some types of medical wastes were investigated and reasonable disinfecting radiation doses were selected to ensure dispelling the biohazards of IMW.

Moise, I.V. et.al, Romania, 1 March 2006 | IRASM Irradiation Centre is operating a tote-box Co-60 multipurpose irradiator and a microbiological laboratory. The facility was established recently (2000) and we had to face with all the new regulations and quality standards, without having a consistent history of operation and practically no radiation sterilization market in Romania. This presentation shows the work done to have a reliable sterilization validation.

David Liu et. al., Johnson & Johnson, USA, 27 February 2006 | The development of a wide range of radiation-compatible materials has enabled the large-scale sterilization of single-use medical devices by ionizing radiation. Today, over 50% of such medical devices are sterilized by either photons from cobalt-60 sources or by accelerated electrons. Over the last 25 years, medical science has advanced at an unprecedented rate resulting in the birth and growth of the biotechnology industry.

E. Hoxey & A. Tallentire, Europe, 1 March 2006 |Revision of the European (EN 552) and International (ISO 11137) radiation sterilization standards has been undertaken jointly during the past five years. The revised standard, made up of three Parts and intended to be published as EN ISO 11137:2006, is currently at the final stages of approval. Part 2, which when used is normative, describes methods of choosing a sterilization dose and demonstrating its effectiveness over time.