Re: FDA likely to approve meat irradiation-Spokesman

["Scott D. Kniffin" <Scott.D.Kniffin.1@gsfc.nasa.gov>]

> Somebody better get it across that this "low power" radiation is not low
>dose radiation.  The kSv needed to kill bugs is intense and lethal to the
>bugs.  That it is similar to a cancer therapy, not inducing food additives,
>contaminations, radioactivity, etc., has gotten all fuzzed up in the press
>and is becoming a large PR issue that needn't be.
>Marvin Goldman
>
If this is the company I'm thinking of, the low power part refers to the 
energy of the electron beam used to irradiate the meat.  One of my 
professors at Univ. of Maryland helped with tech info way back when 
chicken was approved for irradiation.  The maximum electron energy was 
choosen to be around 9 MeV because of fear of activation.  Evidently there 
is an isotope of copper that can be activated by a 10 MeV electron (I think
it was Cu-65 with an EXTREMELY low probability of capture) and the FDA 
wanted complete assurance that the food couldn't become radioactive so the 
limit was set this way.  

Can anyone out there verify this?  This is my memory from several years ago
and may be out of date or I may have the isotope wrong.  Comments, please?

Scott Kniffin

Scott.D.Kniffin.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
RSO, Unisys Corp. @ Lanham, MD
CHO, Radiation Effects Facility, GSFC, NASA, Greenbelt, MD

The opinions expressed here are my own.  They do not necessarily represent
the views of Unisys Corporation or NASA.  This information has not been
reviewed by my employer or supervisor.