India can emerge as largest producer of Cobalt-60

Mumbai, Nov 21 (PTI) India has the capacity to become the
largest producer of Cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope which can
be widely used for food preservation and medical product
sterilisation, a senior Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
official has said.
Cobalt-60 is obtained as a by-product from the
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), a large number of
which are operational in the country.
"India can produce up to 2.5 mega Curie of Cobalt-60 by
using all the PHWRs operating in the country and thus become
the largest global producer of the isotope which is
extensively used in food preservation process as well as
medical product sterilisation," A K Kohli, Chief Executive of
Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), said at a
meeting of Indian Nuclear Society here yesterday.
BRIT, a commercial wing of the DAE, is making use of 12
PHWRs by loading Cobalt-59 as a central rod in them and
getting Cobalt-60 as a by-product, he said.
Food irradiation is a physical process in which food and
agricultural commodities, in pre-packed form or bulk, are
exposed to a controlled amount of radiant energy to achieve
desirable effects such as inhibition of sprouting, delay in
ripening, killing of insect pests, parasites, pathogenic and
spoilage micro-organisms.
Although India faces certain logistical problems,
especially in transportation of the radioactive isotope, it
has been exporting Cobalt-60 to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka, Kohli said.
Atomic Energy Commission former chairman Anil Kakodkar
said the PHWR is a good source of Cobalt-60. The loading and
unloading of the isotope from PHWRs should become a simple
activity, he added.
He said India should make a quick transition from
producing Cobalt-60 and work towards production of caesium, a
radioactive element which emits less gamma ray, is easily
transportable and economically viable.
Also, since the half-life period of caesium is longer
than Cobalt-60, changing of source in the food irradiators
can be done at longer intervals.
"We must speed up caesium production from the
reprocessing waste so that we get the additional benefit of
easy waste management," he said.