Food irradiation | EPFL Graph Search

Food irradiation (sometimes radurization or radurisation) is the process of exposing food and food packaging to ionizing radiation, such as from gamma rays, x-rays, or electron beams. Food irradiation improves food safety and extends product shelf life (preservation) by effectively destroying organisms responsible for spoilage and foodborne illness, inhibits sprouting or ripening, and is a means of controlling insects and invasive pests. In the US, consumer perception of foods treated with irradiation is more negative than those processed by other means. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have performed studies that confirm irradiation to be safe. In order for a food to be irradiated in the US, the FDA will still require that

APT/TEM characterization of the element segregation in ferritic/martensitic steels after irradiation in SINQ

Lijuan Cui

Ferritic /martensitic (FM) steels are among the most important materials in various nuclear applications. As radiation-induced segregation (RIS) is one of the major factors for embrittlement of nuclear materials, thereofre it is essential to study the RIS in FM steels. A comprehensive study has been performed on F82H, Eurofer 97, and ODS Eurofer steels after irradiation at SINQ by combining APT and TEM techniques. The study reveals that after irradiation, the RIS at low-angle GBs in F82H is less pronounced as compared to the random high-angle GBs, while in ODS Eurofer the RIS is similar. It was also found that the element segregation extent is not influenced by the GB CSL structures. The results confirmed that, as reported in literature, the small interstitial elements, such as C, N, P, exhibit GB segregation behaviour. Whereas, the GB segregation of substitutional elements depends on their atomic size. The undersized elements are enriched, and the oversized elements V and W are generally depleted at GBs. In some special cases, oversized elements are also enriched at GBs after irradiation, which may be caused by the âsolute drag effectâ of O or N. For the elements with giant sizes (with a volume over 2 times of Fe) such as Ca, Sc and K, their RIS behaviour was not known in literature, and in this work they showed strong enrichment at GBs. Further, this study also revealed that the segregation of these elements at interfaces between phases of chromium carbides, vanadium nitrides, and the matrix is essentially similar to that at GBs, except for Ti. The radiation-induced clustering of solutes was also studied. Two kinds of clusters were investigated in this study, including oxide clusters in ODS Eurofer and nano-clusters (N-clusters) with Si, Mn, Ti, Sc, Ca and K. In F82H, with increasing irradiation temperature, the N-clusters are changed from dilute, nonuniform-size and -shape to more uniform-size, compacted, and sphericial shape. Comparing with that of F82H, N-clusters have a lower number density and bigger size in Eurofer 97 irradiated under the same condition ~20 dpa/ ~300 Â°C. In ODS Eurofer, N-clusters were only observed in specimen irradiated at 300 Â°C. Some oxide clusters in the specimen irradiated at 480 Â°C contain a high portion of Si, Mn, Ti, Sc, Ca, and K. The number density of oxide clusters increases and their size decreases with irradiation temperature. Last but not least, the concentrations of spallation transmutants were quantified in detail. The results agree well with that of the neutronic calculations. This comprehensive study of irradiation effects on GB segregation and solute clustering revealed a number of novel features in FM steels. The investigation on the transmutation elements not only greatly contributes to spallation materials technology, but also broadens the basic understanding of atomic size effect on GB segregation. The comparison between the RIS behaviors in F82H / Eurofer 97 and ODS Eurofer demonstrated that the oxide clusters or oxygen could promote the segregation of some elements such as V, W and Ti, which is of significance for the application of ODS steels in intensive irradiation environments.

EPFL2021

Towards implementing new isotopes for environmental research:Redetermination of the 32Si half-life

Mario Aaron Veicht

The predicted climate changes on Earth will significantly impact the environment and human society. The climate patterns observed during the past centuries led to a better understanding of the driving forces for such changes. However, more studies using new, innovative techniques are necessary to broaden the knowledge on the involved processes and accomplish a reliable scientific basis for decision-makers.On this subject, radiometric dating is a well-established contemporary technique whereby various time periods (from a few years to millions of years) can be covered with this method. Notably, a dating gap exists so that the period from 100 to 1000 years (before today) is currently not covered. However, this period is of great interest, as it allows for studying and understanding environmental processes such as glacier dynamics, ocean, and atmospheric circulation. Interestingly, a potential nuclide that could fill this dating gap is available: Silicon-32 (Si-32). The problem, however, is the currently very inaccurately determined T1/2 of around 150 years so that a use for radiometric dating is hindered.Hence, the aim of the SNSF-funded SINCHRON (Si-32: a new chronometer) project, and therefore the primary goal of this thesis, concerns the re-determination of the Si-32 half-life. Previous half-life determinations were limited to using samples with low activities. To overcome the issue with the small amounts, Si-32 was artificially produced at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). Subsequently, an innovative wet chemical separation system was developed to allow for the selective removal of Si-32 from an irradiated vanadium matrix. As a result, 20 mL of an ultra-pure Si-32 solution could be produced, fulfilling the desired parameters related to the half-life re-determination.Within the framework of this work, the determination of the half-life via the direct method was applied; i.e., both the determination of the number of atoms (N), in combination with the activity (A), are required. Within the SINCHRON-collaboration, several independent measurements were performed between various multinational metrological institutes. Based on the different requirements, the Si-32 solution was manufactured accordingly: (I) the solution's activity concentration was confirmed to be greater than 100 kBq/g, (II) a chemically very stable Si species was chosen, and (III) ultra-traces of S-32 were removed. Besides, (IV) solid samples for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) could be prepared from the stock solution, too. As a result, we are getting close to providing a new, recommended value with low uncertainty (less than 5%). Within the scope of this work, a preliminary T1/2 for Si-32 of 125 +/- 5 years has been determined. Additionally, we studied vanadium as a target material and determined the production cross-sections of Ti-44, Ca-41, and Al-26. These radionuclides are produced as by-products during the irradiation process. For the latter two nuclides, the presented data describe the very first experimental determination of the cross-section for vanadium as a target. In this context, two independent gamma spectrometric measurement systems were used for the activity determination of Ti-44, and no prior chemical separation of Ti-44 from the matrix was required. Contrarily, Ca-41 and Al-26 were successfully separated using a selective and robust chromatographic wet chemical separation scheme. The activity of these nuclides could then be determined using AMS.

EPFL2022

Characterisation of the activation in Crocus

The aim of this study is to characterize the activation of the crocus cavity. For this purpose, the concrete plug of the irradiation channel crossing the cavity shielding was used to measure the activation by gamma spectrometry. In a first time measurements were made after a long cooling time to determine the residual activation. Then, the plug was irradiated at 40Watts for 2 hours to provide a sufficient irradiation to the concrete. At the same time, measurements were led thanks to the dosimetry by thermoluminescence in the cavity. TLDs measurements gave reaction rates in Li6 at strategical positions detailed on this report. TLDs positions were defined in a Cartesian system centred on the centre core. 2D plans based on previous plan were designed to improve the calculation accuracy of the neutrons flux simulations. The analysis shown a very low activity of the concrete plug, below the low level waste thresholds. However results provided by TLDs and the Nagra’s calculations allowed to highlight a greater neutrons fluence in the upper part of the cavity. So, it might be relevant to pursue the gamma ray spectrometry measurements with concrete plugs from other cavity areas where the neutron flux should be higher.

2018