Current R and D activities at TRCRE in polymer processing by EB

The industrial applications of radiation processing are steadily increasing in such fields as crosslinking of insulation materials for wire and cable, production of heat shrinkable materials, curing of surface coatings and pre-vulcanization of tire-rubber and the sterilization of medical products. In Japan, electron beam (EB) processing has been rapidly growing during these years and the number of EB machines currently installed for industrial production and research and development is estimated to be more than 240. TRCRE is still playing a major role for research and development of radiation processing in Japan, and the current status of research and development activities at TRCRE, especially in polymer processing by using EB, is reviewed in the present paper. (author)