Dynamic operational risk management at industrial irradiation plants

Although feasibility studies indicate that industrial irradiation can be sound business, some initiatives fail in few years. In Brazil, the operation of some industrial irradiation plants has been discontinued in spite of the growing export market for tropical fruits like mangoes and papayas, of which Brazil is one of the major producers. This paper discusses the overall aspects of the food irradiation in Brazil, singles out dynamic operation risk management as an important need and provides suggestions for further developments. This research work involves literature review as well as interviews with irradiation industry stake holders in order to identify the ORs and to assess the situation in a logical and integrated way. The results show that public acceptance is not a major issue for the food preservation industry in Brazil. On the contrary, evidences show that there is public support, provided that information on the subject is disseminated among consumers. Need for improvements have been detected in the areas of industrial operational risk management, external relations for export, and regulatory issues, among others to support decision making in establishing and developing industrial food irradiation capabilities to serve Brazilian tropical fruit exports. (author)