{"id":14988,"date":"2025-12-08T14:44:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T21:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=14988"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T21:43:10","slug":"riding-through-an-electron-beam-irradiator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=14988","title":{"rendered":"Riding through an electron beam irradiator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Electron beam irradiators are used for sterilization and specialized polymer generation\/combination. These devices are rated in MeV range and emit astounding amounts of radiation\/charged particles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone even entering the same room as the active device would likely receive a fatal dose nearly instantly. The radiation is so intense, the air itself is ionized to the point it glows blue (seen clearly at timestamp 1:08 in the video below). It’s was an effect seen above the Chernobyl reactor right after it’s explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These devices are placed in special hardened ‘radiation bunkers’ with winding shielded corridors that keep operators safely away from any straight-line exposure to radiation sources. Still, there is a long history of operators that have been seriously injured and killed by huge amounts of radiation when they ignored safety protocols and circumvented safety devices to enter the rooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Someone decided to see what it looked like inside an active electron beam irradiator by putting a GoPro camera through the device. To even survive, it was encased in a 3\/8″ lead case with a 1\/2″ thick 50% lead glass window – with an additional 1\/4″ lead plate above the camera. Even with all that shielding, it completely overwhelmed the CCD in the Gopro. As it rounds the final corner at around 1:00, you can see charged particles showing up as static on the video. It’s a terrifying ride through a lethal radiation dose. Give it a watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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