Dose characterization of the rad sourceTM 2400 X-ray irradiator for oyster pasteurization

The RS 2400's cylindrical X-ray source yields dose rates high enough to allow the irradiator to replace widely used gamma irradiators. Except for the leftmost 5 cm, beam uniformity is within 10% at the tube surface. At maximum operating parameters, the beam has HVL1=13.66 mm aluminum, HC=0.47, and hνeq=88.5 keV. Maximum dose rates to tissue are 65 Gy min−1±3.1% at tube surface, 37 Gy min−1±3.1% at center of canisters, 14.1 Gy min−1±6.5% for thin-shelled oysters, and 12.3 Gy min−1±6.2% for thick-shelled oysters.