Dose characterization of the rad source 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 HVL(1)=13.66 mm aluminum, HC=0.47, and hv(eq)=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.