Nuclear Technology Review 2011 - IAEA

FIG. I-2. Sketch of GPS integrated gamma counting system for sediment tracing studies in a
coastal area.
sufficiently low in energy that they can be shielded with high density metal —
most commonly lead, although more recently steel. Most low energy electron
beam accelerators can be fitted online in continuous industrial processes such as
in the printing and coating industries.
The curing of inks, coatings and adhesives by EB treatment eliminates the
need to use volatile organic compounds, enabling manufacturers to attain high
production speeds with minimal energy consumption and reduced environmental
impact. In these applications, electron beam technology yields as much as a 90%
reduction in electricity consumption compared to conventional thermal drying
and curing. Compact, moderate cost low energy EB accelerators are available
from several manufacturers for laboratory use and for integration into high speed
coating, printing and surface treatment processes. An example of such a machine
operating at 80 to 120 keV is shown in Fig. I-3.
Additional uses of low energy EB accelerators include cross-linking of heat
shrinkable and nano-composite films that are used, for example, in food
packaging. Such films extend the shelf life of meat, poultry and dairy products
and are used to create tamper resistant packaging. The use of EB curing of
packaging materials and related applications increased during the last two years
in response to evolving market requirements and demands for innovations.
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