Applied radiation chemistry

Since its infancy in the early 1960s, the use of radiation chemistry in commercial and industrial processes has been greeted with equal parts enthusiasm and controversy. Thirty years later, while much has changed in the technology of radiation chemistry, both the enthusiasm and the controversy have remained. Applied Radiation Chemistry takes a long hard look at the entire field of radiation processing: its history, the current state of technology, level of use, controversial applications, and promising developments. The only book of its kind, Applied Radiation Chemistry places as much emphasis on the chemical changes and principles that produce the observable results as it places on the techniques in question. This enables the reader to understand applications in chemical terms, rather than as a series of recipes. Full chapters are devoted to the processing of polymers and the sterilization of medical disposables, two applications currently in use worldwide. There is also an extensive discussion of the controversial subject of radiation treatment of food, including detailed tables of foods approved for irradiation, and a section on identification of irradiated foods. Applied Radiation Chemistry is the ultimate handbook for chemists, food scientists, polymer scientists, environmental scientists, chemical engineers, and others engaged in research on radiation-processing applications. This fully referenced text is also an ideal textbook for graduate-level courses in radiation applications because it gives basic information on the processes, covers radiation dosimetry, and introduces students to a wide range of actual and potential applications.