A joint venture between the Brazilian company CK3 and Rusatom Healthcare, a subsidiary of Rosatom will install in Vale do Paraíba sterilization unit for medical products such as gloves, gases and syringes. The sterilization plant will treat medical products, before they reach the market, from an electron accelerator.
The equipment does not emit radiation after being turned off. The boxes with the various types of equipment are bombarded by high-energy electron beams. It is not necessary to manipulate the objects.
According to Raphael Guiguer, the business aims to fill a commercial niche little explored in Brazil. Sterilizations by both electron acceleration and X-ray radiation, which will also be available at the factory, have several applications in the medical field as well as in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors.
In Brazil, agencies such as the Ipen (Nuclear and Energy Research Institute) also provide radiation sterilization services. Estimates indicate that more than half of the medical products placed on the market are sterilized by radiation.
The technology that uses the rain of electrons of high energy, besides being safe, is also considered as economic by the medical and industrial sectors.
