RADIOISOTOPES

When controlling food production or processing, irradiation of 0.10 Gy or less to food is permitted in Japan. We examined the dose absorbed in at the edible part when sterilizing shell eggs with low energy electron beam. Irradiation conditions with electron beam were evaluated by experiments and Monte Carlo simulation. The depth dose distribution of electron beam for eggshell indicated that the accleration voltages from 80 kV to 200 kV were optimal for eggshell sterilization. Then, it was found that accleration voltages from 80 kV to 150 kV were appropriate to reduce the dose of the edible part of egg in less than or equal to 0.10 Gy. And, contribution of bremsstrahlung for the edible part of egg decreased as the energy of electron beam was lowered.