Dose Distribution in Onion Container Irradiated by Commercial Irradiator

Abstract

Considering the feasibility of commercial scale radiation of sprout inhibition of onions, the dose distribution in onion container was measured at Shihoro potato irradiator. The dose distribution in large container (100×160×130cm) filled with onions was measured with Fricke dosimeter at different distances from cylindrical source which had about 197 KCi of Co-60.
The dose uniformity ratios (Dmax/Dmin) were 2.70, 2.34 and 2.19 at distances of 300, 450 and 550cm from the center of source respectively. From these results, ten thousand tons of onions could be treated in a month at the dose range of 3-6.6 Krad using a same type of irradiator in Shihoro with 174KCi of Co-60 source.