Indore: India’s first electron accelerator — Agricultural Radiation Processing Facility (ARPF) — for irradiation of medical equipment, fruits, vegetables, flowers and other perishable items was inaugurated on Monday at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar fruit and vegetable market by former director of BARC Dr R Chidambaram.The facility that is currently set up for demonstration purposes is awaiting approval from FDA and FSSAI for reuse of medical equipment sterilized through electron beam and for fitness of consumption for food items treated through the process.The electron accelerator had been in pipeline since 2008, when land was first allotted to RRCAT. “Over the years, we developed some components at RRCAT while some were imported. We indigenously built linear accelerators, which actually carried out radiation- LINAC 1 and 2, so that we may have a backup and also invested in other infrastructure such as conveyor, inlet and outlet area, control room, laboratories etc. The entire project cost about Rs15 crore,” RRCAT director PA Naik said.In the plant, a warehouse like set up has been made at the inlet and outlet points from where a conveyor belt takes in and lets out packet cartons of the substance to be irradiated. The conveyor then takes these boxes in fixed lots to the radiation zone and places them before the LINAC which throwing radiation on the box first from one side then from opposite side after which the boxes in packed condition are carried out through the conveyor belt into the outlet zone.“The entire system has multiple security checks and unlike a gamma radiator, radiation system can be easily shut with one switch,” said RRCAT industrial accelerator division head Jishnu Dwivedi.Current capacity of two electron radiators is of 5 kW. During the inaugural, samples of agricultural products such as mangoes, grains, pulses that were irradiated in 2014 were kept against samples, which were not irradiated.

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