Progress 10/01/00 to 09/30/04
Outputs
In early 2004, DOE-Washington informed the president of the University of Hawaii that DOE accepted documentary proofs that the former USAEC held title to the Co-60 installed in the Hawaii Research Irradiator, and has never transferred same to the University. DOE therefore agreed to be responsible for the financial and technical assistance in removing all the Co-60 capsules from the HRI pool and sending them to a depository site in the continental U.S. Subsequently, DOE chose Bechtel as the contractor to carry out the project, with J.L. Sharperd as a subcontractor. J.L. Reed, deputy project manager of the nuclear nonproliferation project at Bechtel, Nevada, is coordinating the removal process. HRI currently is not being used by any researchers. The decommissioning process is scheduled for the Spring of 2005, timed with the Spring break to have minimal traffic on campus. HRI was used effectively, safely and efficiently from early 1965 to early 2004 by about 300
researchers on and off the UH-Manoa campus, resulting in a large volume of research discoveries in plant science, food science, entomological science, medical science, biological science, and space and nuclear engineering. The technology of using irradiation as a quarantine treatment on tropical fruits for export markets was one of the major projects accomplished during this period. Without this research irradiator installed on the campus of the U. of Hawaii-Manoa, many projects would not have materialized. Researchers from USDA-ARS and USDA-APHIS used the facility extensively for fruit fly research and medfly control in California from the early 1980s to December 2002. The HRI is probably the research irradiator used by a most diversified group of scientists in their research projects for the longest period of time in U.S. history. We owe thanks to the former Atomic Energy Commission for distributing funding and providing assistance in constructing and installing the facility, which
began in the early 1960s from the 'Atoms for Peace' program promoted by the Eisenhower Administration and enacted by the U.S. Congress.
Impacts
In the 39 years the HRI has been in operations on the UH-Manoa campus, more than 300 researchers on and off campus have been trained by this PI to become authorized users of the irradiator. Millions of dollars of research projects depended on using the gamma source for experiments. The UH is one of six universities to have such a research irradiator supported by USAEC and the state legislature in the 1960s. We have made excellent use of this irradiator with no accident or incident in all these years. Decommissioning of the HRI in 2005 will mean closing of a gamma facility for researchers on and off campus, while there is still an appreciable number of researchers in the state of Hawaii interested in continuing to use such a facility for their research. When the decommissioning is completed, it will mark a milestone of 40 years of exploration of radiation science and technology for beneficial chemical and biological effects on foods and various biological and inorganic
materials in an island state.
Publications
- Moy, J.H. and Reyes, M.E.Q. 2004. The effect of dose rates on the qualities of irradiated papaya, carambola, longan and rambutan. Abstract in Proc. Ann. Mtg. Inst. of Food Technologists, Las Vegas, July 12-16.
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Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03
Outputs
The Hawaii Research Irradiator (HRI) continued to be maintained in safe, secured working conditions. Researchers from the USDA Fruit Fly Lab used the irradiator until Dec. 2002. Currently it is used by researchers from the UH-PBRC Retrovirology lab and from the fruit irradiation project. Plans were made to decommission the HRI with approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2002. The delay is due to ongoing arguments between the US Dept of Energy and the UH regarding title of the Co-60s. USDOE in 2002 refused to accept responsibility for removing the 100 capsules from the HRI and transporting them to a despository site such as Richland or Hanford, WA. Recently, we found proof from some old files that the USAEC never assigned title of the Co-60s to the Univ. of Hawaii when the HRI was built in 1965. President of the UH has sent the documentary proof to DOE in Washington requesting DOE to reconsider by accepting the responsibility of handling and depositing the
Co-60 capsules to a DOE site. If DOE's response is positive, the decommissioning of the HRI should take place sometime in 2004. Because the PI of this project is the licensee of the Co-60 sources, request for an extension of one or two years is necessary in order to continue this project until the decommissioning is complete.
Impacts
In the more than 38 years the HRI has been in operations on the UH campus, more than 300 researchers on and off campus have been trained by this PI to become authorized users of the irrdiator. Millions of dollars of research projects depended on using the gamma source for experiments. The UH is one of six universities to have such a research irradiator supported by USAEC and the state legislature in the 1960s. It is the only one that has been actively used for almost four decades while the other five were closed down within 10 to 20 years. We have made excellent use of this irradiator with no accident or incident in all these years. Decommissioning of the HRI will mean an absence of a suitable gamma source for research for interested researchers on and off campus.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02
Outputs
The Hawaii Research Irradiator (HRI) continues to be kept in safe working conditions, and used several times a week by researchers from USDA Fruit Fly Lab, Retrovirology Lab at UH, and the Food Sci. Tropical Fruit Irradiation project. Due to P.I. Moy's planned retirement by Dec. 31, 2002, UHM and CTAHR administrators agreed in July, 2001 to decommission the irradiator in 2002. Main task is to find a site to dispose of 100 Co-60 capsules (est. total activity 1,300 Ci by Dec. 2002). NRC approved in May, 2002 decommissioning plan submitted by P.I. Using a private company to decommission is estimated to cost between $150,000 to 200,000. So we requested in April, 2002 for DOE's assistance to remove and deposit the capsules in Richland based on DOE's help to U. of Washington in 1989 for the same purpose and activity. DOE's Waste Management office in Richland refused because we did not have the same documents as UW had, showing the former USAEC held title to the sources when
first installed (in 1965 in Honolulu). Dr. Darrell Fisher of DOE's Radioisotopes Development Program in Richland, WA in September, 2002 informed P.I. that he would help find buyers for our sources. The cost will be shared three ways. As a result, decommissioning of HRI is delayed but expected to be completed in 2003. P.I. Moy will work part-time in 2003 and supervise the decommissioning process.
Impacts
HRI is a very useful research tool. Due to its pending decommissioning, USDA Fruit Fly research unit in Hawaii was forced to spend $220,000 for a self-contained, lead-shielded Co-60 irradiator from Nordion of Canada. Retrovirology Lab has to find another source for its project. The tropical fruit irradiation project is winding down, after almost all the major commercial tropical fruits have been studied in terms of the efficacy of using irradiation as a quarantine treatment. After decommissioning, an irradiator of this design will not be available for research and training.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/00 to 09/30/01
Outputs
The irradiator has been maintained in a safe working condition as before, even though its efficiency is decreasing to the point where 70.8 min. were needed to irradiate some papayas at the minimum quarantine dose of 0.25 kGy (11/20/2001). Demand for the use of the irradiator by various researchers will continue, although users from Entomology and High Energy Physics Group at U. of Hawaii-Manoa are slowing down. Retrovirology Group's (PBRC) use is increasing. USDA and Food Science researchers continue to use it weekly. Plans are underway to decommission the irradiator facility by the Fall of 2002 in anticipation of P.I.'s planned retirement. Interested parties met on 08/02/2000 and on 07/06/2001 with the consensus that decommissioning would be the correct course of action. UHM Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education Edward Laws approved on 08/08/2001 the request of CTAHR Dean A. Hashimoto to decommission the HRI. On behalf of the University of
Hawaii, P.I. on 09/20/2001 notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region IV in Arlington, TX of the university's intent to decommission the irradiator in about one year's time. NRC acknowledged on 11/07/2001 receipt of letter of intent. Two volumes of NRC manuals need to be studied for the decommissioning procedure. P.I. is also seeking an DOE station/lab that would take back the 100 capsules of Co-60 given to the University by USAEC in Jan. 1965. Co-P.I. W.K. Nip is retiring at the end of Dec. 2001 from the University. His previous service as Co-P.I. of this project is highly appreciated.
Impacts
The Hawaii Research Irradiator has been an extremely useful tool for many research projects on and off UHM campus since 1965. The most notable success was USDA scientists' findings of a minimum dose to apply to Hawaii-grown tropical fruits as a quarantine treatment to control fruit flies and other insect pests. Continuing efforts by CTAHR researchers for more than 30 years to study post-irradiation qualities of tropical fruits and their radiation tolerance have led to successful application since 1995 of this technology as a quarantine treatment, which is first in the world. Decommissioning the facility will mean no further research with a gamma source within the State of Hawaii until, and unless, a new Co-60 irradiator is built on the Island of Oahu.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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