Determination of best pine wilt disease treatment using irradiation

Although fumigation of affected trees is the common control method of the pinewood nematode, a causal agent of pine wilt disease,the treatment causes environmental problems and is expensive. This study assessed the effectiveness of irradiation technology. The physical properties and atomic composition of pinewood we reobtained from the literature as input to a radiation transport code(MCNP5). Radiation energies were 10 MeV electron beam and 1.25 MeV gamma rays. For 10 MeV e-beams, penetration depth was 13.4 cm at one-directional irradiation. When the pine wood diameter was less than 17.5 cm, double-beam irradiation sufficed to ensure extermination of the larva. When pinewood diameter was slightly less than 42 cm, a half-cut sample was sufficient to achieve the dose required under double- beam irradiation. For 1.25 MeV gamma rays, the whole sample absorbed the dose. APVC pipe improved dose absorption at the bark region. A pallet irradiator was also evaluated. The double-beam configuration was effective (lower DURs). Although the pine sawyer beetle, a vector of the nematode, penetrates from the bark and moves into the stem, treatment with 1.25 MeV gamma rays could easily control them. Irradiation technology is an effective alternative to treat nematode infested pine wood without unwanted environmental problems