Radiation Processing Using Electron Linacs

The performance capabilities of a modern linac make it a commercially viable tool for enterprising applied radiation chemists and biologists. Good economics requires efficient transformation of mains power to beam power and although pulsed travelling wave linacs have been used in industrial applications for several years, their high cost per watt is a disadvantage. The cw linac with its variants is a developed technology which could be used profitably in selected applications. More integrated designs like the self-excited linac and the induction linac also offer promise for the near future. Linac design optimization in relation to the physical and chemical processes desired in the irradiated product is discussed.