COM 0212.439 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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m ~ . ,Opponents of irradiation' usually rt- is known co have caused harm to any- half an•ineh in diame[ec Moreover, a~ - spond that [host who disparage the NNE one outside the plant. In addition, al- flip,'of a switch', scare or stops genera- ' .studies have'an overriding interest in • . though four of thcincidents invol4ed tiontaf the beam.'That.means that so ' promoting food irradiation." ~ leaks of isotopes into the shielding long'as accelerators arc not conning, Opponents also charge thacprocess- : pools, in each case [he leaking capsules they present no danger, the difficulties ing plans using' isti[opes as radiation had been built using a technology no of transporting, storing; and using iso- sources pose unacceptable hcaltf[ risks ~ ~ longer in use (a!t,`,CUgh some of chc topes are obviated:.Co'st is [hc biggest co nearby residen[s. Exposure to the old-sry^Ic capsules are still in use).. The 'obstacle to expanding'the use of accel- ' .isotopes used in irradiation can indeed leading current supplier of capsulesr orators, but recenc:`mchnological ad- " be lc[hal: For 4hai reason each plant's ~ Nordion International, formerly asub- ~ vances may eventually make acceler- isotopes, customarily shca[hed~ in sidiary of A[amie Enemy of Canada,. ators as cost-e(fociive as isotopes. ~ ~ ' , stairiless•srecl capsules, arc srored~ in a has built 25,000 capsules and delivered' ~ ~ - '•cellsurrounded by cementgvalls five or them around tho world without oXEeri- ttr uosr srecrnctir.nn charge: six feet thick, which absorb radioactive encing a single leak. - by critics of uradatiob, fe~ently ~ energy.: Products needing exposure arc Fur`thcrmore, if the fondest dreams weakened by the~mproverncnt - ~ ~ rolled-into the cell on a conveyor belt. ~.of some propbncnu are realized„ the in: Soviet-American relations, is th`ac.:~ ' Workers enter the celP onty~when the * dangers posed by isotopes will bc.elim- the U.S. Department of Energy has ` - plant is not iri operation and 'the iso- ~ inatetl. These proponents envision a,, promoted food irradiation as part of a ' copes have been mechanically loweted time when linear accelerators will re- convoluted serategy to inereascithe:/ into s podbof water inside the cell. place isotopes as energy sptirces for food production of plutonium, theie'bg fur- ' rFodd-irradiation opptinend say char ' irradiarion; indeed, accclcrators'have thering weapons production. Mosgofi,- thcsafety record of the roughly'fom already supplanted isotopes as sources an; the NCSPI's former director;.weni ~ ' American irradiation plants makes a for medical therapy units, andare used so far as to~call food irradiation "the en- "hall of 'shame,".and an infprmation commcrcially:in:many dthcr kirids of, ,ginat6drivc a crucial componcnt'of manual published be.tlie Nacional'Co- radiation processing: Instead of emit- chc arms'ract.".Qpponents'eite the alitioh to Seop Food Irradiation ~ [ing radia[iori .in all directions, accel- DOE's rolle•3s administrator of a pro= (NCSFI) cites six accidents as evi- orators genera're high=iniensity~beams gram, latinched• in...1985, to buildosix dente. However, none'of the accidents of tadiation that can be as narrow as demonstiacion. irradiation, plants, at a 1 i s' ' i... ,i'. \ . \ .n, - '-'r . I .a;. r" - J. ^