FEED SAFETY ▶▶▶
Russia mulls plans to use radiation on agricultural products
Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom promotes ionising radiation as a rather new method for killing pathogens, pests, and fungi in agricultural production, including in feed.
BY VLADISLAV VOROTNIKOV, CORRESPONDENT T
There are still some doubts whether the use of radioactive treatment of agricultural products is completely safe.
his technology might provide an answer to the many problems the feed industry has to deal with, but environmentalists are still not entirely convinced it is safe for mass application. According
to information from Rosatom subsidiary Rusatom Healthcare. under the proposed treatment technology, the products are placed exposed for a limited time to radiation by a radioac- tive isotope, for example, Cobalt 60. This belongs to a class of synthetic radioactive isotopes, which means it can only be produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Speaking to the Rus- sian press a few years ago, Dmitry Teplyakov, marketing man- ager of Rusatom Healthcare, claimed that, although the tech- nology proved to be safe and promising, widespread fear of nuclear technology appeared to be a major obstacle on the way to fully fledged commercialisation. Rosatom is among the leaders of the global nuclear industry.
The corporation has the largest order book of new nuclear plant construction projects worldwide, with 36 nuclear power plant units currently at different stages of development in 12 countries, excluding Russia. The company’s 10-year order book of foreign orders totalled US $ 130 billion in 2020. In the past few years, Rosatom has been working on business diver- sification. According to Rosatom’s long-term development plan, by 2030 the share of proceeds from the new business direction should climb to 30% of the corporation’s overall proceeds. The radioactive treatment of agricultural products with radioactive isotopes is likely to be listed among those businesses. Using ionising radiation in the agricultural industry is backed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This organization has acknowledged the technology as safe for disinfection and insect disinfestation of crops. According to Rosatom, none of the studies so far have shown that the agricultural products that undergone radioactive exposure could in any way be dangerous. Rosatom has carried out studies that bolster its statements on the technology’s efficiency. In 2011, an experi- ment in the Tatarstan Republic showed that pre-sowing treat- ment led to a 17% to 23% hike in wheat harvest, a 11% to 12.4% increase in barley production, and a 21% to 27% boost in corn production, as compared to the parameters of the control group. Rosatom executives have also repeatedly dis- missed rumours that food products treated with radiation may lose their taste or odour, or change their appearance.
Use worldwide Rosatom has already signed preliminary agreements to build commercial irradiation centres outside Russia. In 2018, Rus- atom Healthcare and A Brown Company Inc. signed a project development agreement for constructing a network of irra- diation centres in the Philippines. “The technology we offer to our Philippine partners is based on more than 70 years of experience in the nuclear field, and we hope it will con- tribute to the sustainable development of the Philippines.” said Denis Cherednichenko, CEO of Rusatom Healthcare, following the signing ceremony. Rusatom Healthcare offers
20 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 29, No. 3, 2021
PHOTO: PETER
J.E.ROEK
PHOTO: ROSATOM
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