A study of application plan on radiation technology for conservation and restoration of organic cultural heritages

We investigated the use of radiation techniques for development of alternative technologies in accordance with regulations of chemicals fumigants and Ensure the practical applicability and R and D projects for organic cultural heritage for long-term conservation. Methyl bromide was previously used as a fumigation agent for controlling the biodegradation of organic cultural heritages. However, it was banned in 1997 based on the Montreal Protocol because of its toxicity to humans and the environment. It cannot use the Methyl bromide from 2015 in Korea. For disinfection of decay fungi and insects, irradiation technology has been applied for preservation of cultural heritages in the world including the France, Croatia, Czech, UK, Italia, and Brazil. Korea has high level radiation technology, human resource, and instrumental infra in radiation industry. Our investigated results show that radiation treatment of Korean traditional cultural heritages is extremely efficient and could be used to preserve organic cultural heritages from being damaged by decay fungi and insects. We expected that radiation techniques contribute reduction in administrative costs through advanced processing technology and expansion of retention period of cultural property.