Industrial Pulsed Linear Accelerators for Radiation Treatment of Products

The design and principle of operation of ILU-series industrial electron accelerators produced by the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics are considered using the examples of the ILU-10 accelerator with an accelerated-electron energy of 5 MeV and a mean beam power as high as 50 kW and the ILU-14 accelerator with an electron energy of up to 10 MeV and a beam power as high as 100 kW. The mechanisms of interaction between the electron beam and microbiological samples, the peculiarities of the depth profile of the absorbed dose in a substance, and the design of the electron-beam converter into bremsstrahlung are described. By using this converter, it is possible to increase the mass thickness of treated products several times compared to the electron mode. The throughput of ILU accelerators during radiation sterilization and electron pasteurization of products is estimated.