IRENA MUÇOLLARI, ERVIS GEGA, KLAUDIA KAÇORI, FOTION MITRUSHI
Abstract
Radiation processing involves using ionizing radiation, gamma, X-rays, and electron beams, to alter the biological, physical, or chemical properties of materials. This technology has a wide range of industrial, medical and environmental applications such: medical device sterilization, decontamination in food and agriculture, blood irradiation to prevent transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease, insect sterilizations, polymer modifications, wastewater treatments, etc. The Institute of Applied Nuclear Physics has used radiation processing for applications in polymer modifications, total microbial load reduction of animal food and in induced plant mutagenesis, since 1984, using the Van de Graf accelerator and the self- shielded gamma irradiator model GU- 3 – Cs-137. A new X-ray biological irradiator has been installed at Institute in 2022 for research applications on insect sterilization, blood irradiation, induced plant mutagenesis etc. The irradiator has a single X-ray tube of Quastar DT-1084 model running at maximum 25 milliampere and 160 kilovolts. It has a mechanical configuration of six cylindrical canisters that are fixed and rotate around the X-ray tube holding material volume of 830 ml each. The irradiator delivers an average dose rate of 16.45 Gy/min in the biological material of larva density of 0.449 gr/cm3. Irradiation of biological material needs an accurate dose measured by appropriate reference and routine dosimetry system such as ionization chambers, Fricke solution, alanine, radicromic film, thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD-s), etc. This work presents the implementation of the European thermoluminescent dosimeters MCP-N (LiF:Mg, Cu, P) as a routine dosimetry system for dose characterization of the biological RS-2400Q for safe and accurate delivery doses to biological material up to 10 Gy.
Key words: Irradiator, thermoluminescent dosemeter, routine dosimetry.