An Update on Irradiation of Wire and Cable

Radiation curing with electron accelerators is a growing high technology application in the wire and cable industry. They are used with voltages ranging from 500,000 up to 3,000,000 electron volts. Furthermore new machines are available up to 5.0 MeV. These industrial machines are high powered accelerators which operate continuously between 60 and 75 kilowatts with a few of the new machines operating up to 200 kilowatts. Radiation curing is used as a tool for developing new insulation systems based on low cost materials for applications which previously required the use of expensive fluorocarbon or silocone rubber type insulations. With the development of the larger, more efficient and reliable accelerators and the continuous trend toward developing new insulations designed to fully utilize the potential of radiation chemistry, we are confident that industry will continue to be provided with better, lower cost insulation systems.