Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) has bagged an order for supply of source pencils loaded with 100 kCi of radioactive cobalt for replenishing the source of an existing Gamma Irradiation plant at Vinagamma in Ho-Chi-Minh city of Vietnam. Besides, the Indian Navy will soon use radiation technology to preserve food items with the technical assistance of BRIT.

A team of five officials from the Atomic Energy Commission of Vietnam recently had visited BRIT for studying the operations of Radiation Processing Plants, including source loading.

"In 2000, the projects group of BRIT commissioned a 50 kCi, batch type, pilot Radiation Plant in the Institute of Food and Radiation Biology (IFRB), Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. That plant is to carry out scientific research and for commercial exploitation, when required. This year, we have bagged an order to supply source pencils loaded with 100 kCi of radioactive cobalt to Vietnam," said the sources in BRIT.

Meanwhile, the Naval headquarters of India has approved the introduction of Radiation technology as a source for the preservation of high value food products, after carrying out trial for about six months. The technology will help Navy to save its procurement costs. BRIT will provide the radiation source, Cobalt 60.

"BRIT will give the irradiator, along with its design and technology. We will train them for loading the source and operating the plant. By the method of procuring raw material at the harvest season when the prices are low and preserving the food items throughout the year, Navy is bound to save a lot of expenditure," said Dr. N. Sivaprasad, Director, BRIT.

BRIT also provides quality radiation source to INHS Asvini, a Navy hospital at Colaba, Mumbai dedicated to treat defence officials and their families. It supplies radioiodine for thyroid diagnosis and radioiodine therapy every week and provides Technetium- 99m cold kits, Molybdeum- 99 and kit for Technetium- 99m extraction, to the hospital. The Nuclear Medicine Department of INHS Asvini conducts Nuclear Medicine Technologists Course for the three wings of defence personnel. The hospital also trains Nuclear Medicine doctors.

The hospital is also planning to soon add Gallium- 67, Thallium- 201, Technetium- 99m or Indium- 111 label infection imaging agent, Therapeutic mIBG -I- 131, higher therapeutic doses of Sodium Iodine-I-131 in capsules and Molybdeum- 99- Technetium 99m column generator.