Tustin Irradiation Operation Is ‘Not a Nuclear Facility,’ Manager Maintains
Not a whiff of controversy surrounds the irradiation plant owned by SteriGenics International Inc. in an industrial park in this Orange County community. But inside the place reeks of tacos.
That is because of the dozens of bulk bags of mixed chili pepper, oregano and cumin piled near the plant’s conveyor belt, awaiting their ride into “the cell.” There they will be bathed in gamma rays to rid them of potentially harmful bacteria and insects.
Thomas Mates, the facility’s general manager, explains how the word “irradiation” has been unfairly linked with nuclear energy and nuclear warheads. There are many forms of radiation, which, after all, is just heat, he said.
“We are not a nuclear facility,” Mates said. “We cannot have a core meltdown. If all else fails and we’re bombed by the Iraqis, you would want to be in this building.” Its concrete walls are 6 1/2 feet thick.
Nevertheless, the Tustin operation contains a radiation source, cobalt-60, and thus requires a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
A heavy door separates the cell from the vast warehouse area where the spices rest. On the door is a sign: “Grave Danger. Very High Radiation Area.” Locks, chains, alarms and flashing lights are designed to ensure that no one opens the door while something is being irradiated within.
The door leads to “the maze,” a hallway with five turns that ends in a dim, bunker-like room housing a 24-foot-deep pool of water.
Submerged there are dozens of “pencils,” thin metal rods containing cobalt 60. When they are not being used to bombard foods or medical supplies, their radioactive energy is absorbed by the water, which glows “cobalt blue.” Bags or boxes of items being irradiated move through the area in metal bins called totes.
In the 1950s, irradiation first caught on as a way to sterilize disposable medical devices such as syringes and catheters. Over the years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its use for eliminating pests and bacteria from spices, fruits and vegetables, poultry and other foods.
SteriGenics, based in Fremont, built its first plant in 1979 and now has 13 facilities, four in California. They irradiate medical devices, foods, dairy packaging and gems, in which irradiation can eliminate flaws.
The Tustin plant zaps about 36 million pounds of spices a year. About 10% of the nearly 900 million pounds of spices and ingredients used in this country annually are irradiated; alternatives used to fumigate them include methyl bromide and ethylene oxide, both of which have raised health alarms.
Ten years ago, when SteriGenics was known as Radiation Sterilizers Inc., its Decatur, Ga., plant experienced a leak of radioactive cesium-137 into its underground pool. Though tiny, the contamination forced a federal cleanup that took 4 1/2 years and cost $47 million.
The accident resulted from the rupture of a Department of Energy capsule containing cesium, a byproduct of nuclear weapon manufacturing. The incident prompted the fledgling industry to switch to cobalt, a metal produced for the purpose of irradiation.
