Half Billion Peso Irradiation Facility Up

The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the PHP548.7-million project of Irradiation Solutions, Inc. (ISI), which will start commercial operations in June 2023' the second irradiation facility in the country.

Photo Insert: In the medical field, E-beam irradiation is used in sterilizing medical and pharmaceuticals devices.

Located in Tanay Multipurpose Irradiation Facility ISI will be using electron-beam technology for its irradiation facility in Tanay, Rizal.

According to BOI, the only e-beam irradiation facility in the country is owned and operated by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI), which has a capacity of 440 metric tons (MT) in a year.

The upcoming irradiation facility will add 25,000 MT of irradiation capacity annually.

Irradiation is a processing and preservation technique for food and non-food products by exposing the goods to ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, x-rays, and e-beam machines.

Products that undergo irradiation do not become radioactive.

“The project is aligned with the government’s Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) response in building food resilience through the adoption of innovative technologies to reduce post-harvest losses and increase shelf-life of agri-fisheries products and food commodities,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said.

Target customers of ISI’s facility in Tanay, Rizal will include importers, exporters, and traders.

“It will also promote much needed additional economic activity throughout the agriculture value chain through increased quality of production as well as enabling local products to be of export quality and thus be able to access wider international markets,” Rodolfo added.

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