ALAN E. WALTAR Nuclear Technology’s Numerous Uses We should not let unjustified fear of radiation create In his 1953 “Atoms for Peace” ad. obstacles to and cheaper than most other meth- emmeeisin st continued progress thous easton lenged scientists and engineers to and benefits. Its sterile shelf life is practically hamess the atom for humanitarian purposes in medicine, agriculture, and other non-power aspects of di- rect benefit. Half a century later, nuclear technology has had as- tounding economic and job impacts in the United States (see Table 1). The totals in terms of dollars and jobs are impressive, but perhaps the biggest rev- elation is that the atom has a substantially larger im- pact outside the nuclear power sector than in it, Perhaps the most significant success story over the past half-century in harnessing radiation to serve modem humanity is found in the field of medicine. Sterilizing medical equipment, Radiation in high ‘enough deses can kill microorganisms, so gamma ta- diation is used to sterilize dressings, surgical gloves, bandages, and other equipment routinely used di ing medical procedures. Today, well over half of all sterilized medical equipment used in modern U.S. hospitals has had radiation treatment. This is safer ‘Alan E. Waliar (alan. waliar@ pal gov) is director of nuclear en- ergy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, ‘Washington. “a infinite as long as the package is not opened, New drug testing. Substantial testing must be done before new drugs are approved. This includes detecting how a product attacks a targeted disease. and any possible side effects. Radioisotopes, because of their unique imaging characteristics (via particle emission), are ideally suited to deal with such ques- tions—ineluding material uptake, metabolism, dis- tribution, and elimination of unwanted residues from the body. For at least 80 percent of the new drugs approved by the U.S, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medical use in the United States, radia~ tion was a crucial component of their success in mak- ing it through the approval process. The International Atomic Enengy Agency estimates that some 100 to 300 radiopharmaceuticals are in routine use through- out the world, and most are commercially availabl Diagnostic techniques, The earliest use of radi- ation in the medical field occurred in World War I, ‘when portable x-rays helped field surgeons save many lives, Today, dental x-rays, chest x-rays, mammo- grams, and numerous other tests are used routinely in the medical and dental professions. ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY'S USES But x-rays, useful as they are, provide only a snapshot of a particular piece of the anatomy, The imaging properties of radioisotopes allow modern nuclear medical specialists to measure the activity of some specific physiological or biochemical function in the body as a function of time. Two of the most common technologies are single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emis- sion tomography (PET), which are used to detect can- cer. Nuclear diagnostic techniques are now routinely used throughout the industrial world to determine anomalies in the heart, brain, kidneys, lungs, liver, breasts, and thyroid glands. Bone and joint disorders, along with spinal disorders, also benefit directly from this routine use of radioisotopes. Therapeutic approaches. Until recently, the use of radiation to actually cure diseases was rather lim- ited. One of the first therapeutic applications in- volved using iodine-131 (1131) to-eure thyroid can- cer. Since the thyroid has a special affinity for iodine, it is a relatively simple and straightforward matter to have a palient drink a carefully determined amount of 1131 in a chemically palatable form of solution. The 1131 then preferentially lodges in the thyroid gland, and the beta-emitting properties of this ra- dioisotope subsequently target and destroy the thyroid malignancy, Since 1131 has a half-life of eight days, it effectively disappears within a few weeks. Radin- tion is now used widely in the treatment of other cancers as well Most of the current therapeutic procedures de- liver radiation to the patient externally. Accelerators are used to deliver either protons to the target or beta particles, which are normally directed onto-a target that secondarily produces x-rays. Although this can have substantial benefits, itis impossible to keep the radiation from killing or impairing healthy tissue in the immediate vicinity, especially if the beam must pass through healthy tissue to reach the malignancy. There are three principal ways to minimize in- jury to healthy cells from radiation therapy: (1) ro- tating the external beam around the patient, (2) cre- ating radioisotopes only at the site of the malignancy, and (3) developing a method to deliver appropriate ra- dioisotopes directly to the cancerous tissue ‘An example of the first approach is the “gamma knife,” where the radioactive source is delivered from many directions, with the beam continuously focused ‘on the targeted abnormality but with only small amounts of radiation passing through healthy tissue. ‘An example of the second approach is boron- neutron capture therapy. Boron is introduced into the patient as part of a special chemical carrier, so that it preferentially concentrates al the tumor site. A neutron bbeam is then focused on the boron, producing alpha particles that destroy the malignant cells only in the immediate vicinity of the concentrated boron. Be- ‘cause alpha particles are typically stopped within one ‘human cell from their point of origin, the intense ra- diation damage is quite localized, ‘An example of the third approach is cell-directed radiation therapy. In order to have just localized dam- age, either beta or alpha emitters are needed. For solid ‘tumors, one methad of getting the radioisotope to the Table 1. Overall Impact of Nuclear Technology in the United States." 1991 1995, Sales Jobs Sales Jobs (billion doliars) = {miltion) —_ (billion dollars) (million) Radiation 287 a7 334 40 Nuclear Power 73 O48 90 04 Total x0 44 421 44 * Using a multiplicative economic model that includes secondary revenue and jobs created by the primary sectors. ‘SPRING 2004target is direct injection, assuming that the tumor is accessible, nigues—either directly bom- barding seeds to alter DNA struc- Brachytherapy, for instance, is used A significant tures or irradiating crops to in- to treat prostate cancer: Several —_jymediimel duce variations in the resulting “reeday"each conaininganmal —_UWPeGUnENL To the ean agreally accelerate the amount of a radionuclide suchas Medical COMMUNITY selection process. Radiation was iBekainics: the limited ets seein doa grain of rice, are placed directly into. AVAilability of new 2.250 new crop varieties in the the prosute gland, where they remain a past 70 years; three-quarters of for life, Another cell-directed method radioisotopes. these irradiation-induced vari- involves attaching the radioisotope toa chemical that has a special affin- ity for the malignancy. This is called the monoclonal antibody (or “smart bullet”) approach, It is particularly suited for treating malignancies that are not confined to a particular spot, such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin's disease. Although many of these therapeutic applications of radiation are still in relatively early trial stages, the potential for success is enormous. Agriculture: ‘There remains a huge need to find new ways to in- crease food production and deliver food without spoilage to the growing global population, Greater crop production, By attaching radioac- tive tracers to known quantities and varieties of fer- tilizers, it is possible to directly determine nutrient efficiencies as the labeled products are absorbed at critical locations in the plant. This ean help to sub- stantially reduce the amount of fertilizer required to produce robust yields. ‘Water is becoming quite searce in many areas of the world. Neutron moisture gauges can measure the hydrogen component of water in both the plant and the surrounding soil. Thus, they are ideal in- struments to help farmers make the best use of lim- ited water supplies and are now found on many large USS. farms. ‘Another effective way to improve crop produc- tion is the development of new species—varieties that can better withstand heat or storm damage, have earlier maturing times to escape frost damage and allow crop rotation, resist diseases and droughts, provide better growth and yield patterns, deliver im- proved nutritional value, allow improved process- ing quality, and so on. Specialized radiation tech- 30 eties were food crops, and the rest were ornamental flowers. ‘To date, China has benefited the most from using radiation to improve crop. species. As of 2002, nearly 27 percent of the crops grown in China were developed this way, The equiv- alent figure elsewhere ranges from 11.5 percent in India and 9.3 percent in Russia to 7.8 percent in the Netherlands, 5.7 percent in the United States, and ‘5.3 percent in Japan. Indeed, the application of radi- ation techniques to the development of new crop va- rieties has probably provided the greatest global eco- homie value of any form of hamessing radiation. Improving animal health. Farm animals have likewise benefited from the application of radiation techniques. One key area concerns the optimal use ‘of matural pastures or commercially prepared feeds. ‘This is accomplished by labeling feed with specialty radioisotopes, such as carbon-14, and then tracing the paths of the food within the animal's digestive system to determine where:and how quickly it is bro- ken down into body tissues or milk. This helps de- termine food’s nutritional value. Radioisotopes have also been used to develop ‘vaccines that are effective against certain animal dis- eases. For example, rinderpest (“cattle plague”)—a dreaded disease that has killed millions of cattle on African farms over the past four decades—has been eliminated using radiation-produced vaccinations in 16 of the 18 African countries previously infested. Eradication of pests. One proven way to use nu- clear technology in controlling or even eradicating unwanted insects is the sterile insect technique. This involves mass “factory breeding” of large numbers ‘of the target insects and sterilizing the males by ¢x- posing them to gamma irradiation. When the sterilized males are released into infested areas and mate with ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY'S USES wild females, no offspring are produced; if the ster- itized males greatly outnumber the wild males in the area, the pest will be eradicated. Perhaps the largest success to date in using this technique occurred in Mexico. The Mediterranean fruit fly (the medfly) was knocked out entirely by 1981, and a screwworm eradication program yielded some $3 billion in ben- efits to the Mexican economy by 1991 Food processing. Tragically, infestation and spoilage prevent one-fourth to one-half of the food produced in the world from reaching people. In ad- dition, the food that does reach them can become un safe to eat because of contaminants such as insects, molds, and bacteria, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 1999 that some 5,000 Americans die each year from food-borne dis- eases, and about 30 million others become sick, with about 300,000 of them requiring hospitalization Food irradiation involves subjecting food to care- fully controlled amounts of ionizing radiation, such as beta particles or gamma rays, to break the DNA. bonds of targeted pathogens. This is especially effective in destroying the reproductive cycle of bacteria and pathogens. It can eradicate unwanted organisms and specific non-spore-forming: pathogenic microorgan- isms such as salmonella. It can also interfere with physiological processes such as sprouting in pota- toes or onions. Thus the shelf life of many foods can be extended appreciably, and the presence of food- bome disease organisms such as Escherichia coli can be dramatically reduced. It is important to note that food processed by radiation does not become ra- dioactive. At the doses used, it is impossible for beta, gamma, or x-rays to make food radioactive. ‘One of the prime advantages of food irradiation is that it sterilizes food without altering its form or taste. Older methods of food processing, which rely on heating or freezing, extreme drying or salting, or chemical treatments, generally do change the way food tastes and/or looks. Widespread acceptance of food irradiation by the general public has been slow, but there are several signs—particularly in the United States—that con- sumer acceptance is not far away. Major supermarkets have signed on to offer irradiated meat at some stores, ‘And the 2002 Farm Bill approved by Congress man- -dated that commodities such as meat and poultry that are treated by any technology approved by the U.S. somo 2004 Department of Agriculture and the FDA for improv- ing food safety must be made available to the Na- tional School Lunch Program. Food irradiation is in- cluded in this mandate, Industry Although modem factories are the source of most of the products that we use daily, harnessed radiation, in industry likely constitutes the most hidden use of this technology to ordinary citizens, Process control and plant diagnostics. Because radiation has the ability to penetrate matter, indus- trial measurements can be made using radioisotopes ‘without direct physical contact with either the source: or the sensor. This allows online measurements to be made nondestructively while the material being mea- sured is in motion, Measurements that are typically made in production lines include liquid levels, the. density of materials in vessels and pipelines, the thick- ness of sheets and coatings, and the amounts and properties of materials on conveyor belts. Radioisotope “thickness gauges” are unequallled in performance and are used extensively in almost every industry involved in producing sheet matezial (such as sheet metal or paper). It is highly unlikely that automation in such industries would be possible without the use of radioisotopes. Modern steel mills use such gauges to measure the thickness of rolled metals accurately at every moment during produe- tion. Paper mills use them to measure the density of wet pulp accurately in the first stages of paper pro- duction. These gauges are also frequently used in the food industry (such as in filling cereal boxes) and the oil industry, where determining the density of liq- uids, solids, or slurries is important. Many radioactive tracer techniques have been used to investigate the reasons for reduced efficiency in modem plant operations. Tracers are now routinely used to measure flow rates, study mixing patterns, and locate leaks in heat exchangers and pipelines. Materials development. Changes in molecular structure, including the inducement of desired chem- ical reactions, can be created in certain materials by appropriate exposure to radiation, For example, some polymers whase crass-linkage is induced by radi tion. can be tailored to shrink when heated. “Heat- shrink” products are now widely used in the pack- aging industry, Wire and cable insulated with Iradiation-cross-linked polyvinyl chloride exhibit excellent resis- tance to heat and chemical attack and are widely used in the aut mobile, aerospace, and telecom- munications industries. This pro- cess is being used increasingly to cross-link foamed polyethylene for thermal insulation and wood/plas- tic composites cured by gamma ir radiation, The latter are gaining favor for flooring in department stores, airports, hotels, and churches because of their excel- Police and firefighters should be trained to deal with the real dangers of nuclear materials rather than perceived ones. electron beam processing has been developed to remove both sulfur and nitrogen oxides from flue gas effectively and allow the products to be converted into a commer- cially viable agricultural fertilizer. The oil industry also depends heavily on the use of radiation to conduct business. Borehole logging often employs nuclear probes to determine the potential for eco- nomically viable oil deposits in test wells. Radiation monitors are also widely used t0 determine malfunc- Jent abrasion resistance, the beauty of natural grains, and low mainte- nance costs. Many tire companies are now using radiation to vulean- ize rubber for tire production as an improvement over the conventional use of sulfur. Materials testing and inspection. One of the ear- liest industrial applications of radiation was to mea- sure engine wear in the automotive industry. Irradiating the surface of an engine part under investigation (such as a ring or a gear) makes that portion of the metal ra- dioactive. In tests to see which materials hold up best during operation, any wear on that part results in some radioactive material being deposited in the oil lubri- cation stream, where itcan be readily measured. ‘Corrosion in pipes is a common problem in the industrial world. By moving a gamma source on one side of the pipe and a detector on the other, precise analyses can be made of the corrosion patterns. The activation property of radiation is used extensively to determine precise layers of special coatings, such as metal coatings to produce galvanized or tin-plated steel. The penetrating property of radiation is rou- tinely used to check welds in crucial places such as airplane wings, housings for jet engines, and oil and gas pipelines. Energy. The coal industry benefits directly from using neutron gauges (o measure and control the mois- ture content in coal and coke. And gamma. sources are used to assay ash content as well as the combus- tion gases that go up the stack. Ik is important to de- termine the sulfur and nitrogen contents of coal, which are of considerable interest because of their contri- butions to acid rain, A new radiation technique called 2 tions in refinery operations. Personal care and conve- niences. Anyone who wears either contact lenses or glasses benefits directly from radiation, The saline solution used to clean and stone contact lenses is sterilized by gamma radiation, Neutron probes are used to ensure the proper moisture content during the making of the high-quality glass for eyeglasses. Cosmetics often use gamma radiation to rid products of any microbes, before the product is packaged for public consump- tion. One helpful feature of radiation is that it changes the molecular structure of some materials to allow them to absorb huge amounts of liquid. Useful prod- ucts that rely on this include air fresheners, disposable diapers, and tampons. Other fields Radiation has an increasing role in public safety, in- ‘cluding airport screening, crime solving. and the de- terrence of terrorism at points of entry. The use of americum-241 in smoke detectors has undoubtedly saved thousands of lives and prevented untold prop- certy damage. Radiation is also a key component for archaeological dating and the enhancement of pre- cious gems. It is likewise used extensively for mea- suring and controlling sources of contamination to ‘our environment, Advanced space exploration would not be pos- sible without radiation technology. Plutonium-238 is ‘widely used as both a heat source to keep instruments from freezing and a source of electricity to run in- struments and communication devices. Propulsion that uses nuclear-reactor rockets will be needed for {SSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYMUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY'S USES: manned voyages to other planets or their moons. Finally, radiation technology provides a powerful fleet of tools. te probe and unravel the mysteries of the basic structure of materials. From electron mi- croscopes to very-high-energy accelerators, re- searchers have one of the best sets of technologies available to both explore existing matter and to syn- thesize new materials with highly desirable properties. Obstacles to further progress It is not a given that these impressive applications of nuclear technology will continue 10 expand. The pub- lic’s sometimes overriding fear of radiation has his- torically thwarted progress in many areas. This fear has worked its way into numerous rules and regulations among federal and state agencies that have stymied progress and added considerable cost in several areas. For instance, the intense degree of reg- ulation of almost anything having a nuclear campo- nent forces practitioners to use time-consuming and expensive accounting practices. Is the cost of such detailed recordkeeping really warranted when the ex- pense of stich attention to detail is ultimately passed ‘an to the public? Some medical practitioners have reacted by moving into other areas of practice. Perhaps a larger issue facing the nuclear medical industry is the disposition of low-level radioactive waste (LW), There are currently only two USS. sites licensed to receive this waste material: Richland, Washington, and Bamwell, South Carolina. Efforts to dispose of LLW in other areas have met strong ‘public resistance, even though detailed scientific stud- ies have shown such sites and associated operations to ‘be much safer than essentially any other waste com- modity. As a result, long-distance hauling of LLW from hundreds, if not thousands, of sites clearly adds to the cost of waste disposal today and hence to the ‘cost of using this technology. A significant impediment to the medical com- munity is the limited availability of new radioiso- ‘topes. Currently, the United States imports-at least 90 ‘percent of the radioisotopes used in daily commerce. ‘Further, the U.S. Department of Energy has reduced its sesearch budget for producing and developing the use ‘of new radioisotopes to zero. Some clinical studies 10 use new radioisotopes in curing cancer and other life-limiting diseases have been halted because of the lack of isotopes. Of perhaps greater concern, there ‘sPRING KOE are very few sources of alpha emitters, which have enormous potential for curing several types of can- cer, Without a major change to revitalize the U.S, ra- dioisotope program, nuclear medicine could stagnate. New techniques such as gene therapy will likely play an increasing role in the future, but even these aften re- quite the concurrent use of radiation technology in onder to be successful. Concern over radiation dangers is also thwart- ing progress in areas other than medicine. A classic case is food irradiation. This technology has been studied for more than four decades in several coun- tries and has been declared safe and effective by es- sentially every relevant international scientific body. ‘Yet only recently have U.S. federal approvals been given for its use on major food items. Irradiated foods sold in bulk, such as chicken or strawberries, are des ignated with the “radura” symbol on the package. Approval of the irradiation of seafood commodities is still pending, bbut efforts to gain it are under way. This is important because spoilage is quite high for many of these products. In a less visible aspect of agricul- ture, many thousands of acres of stubble are bumed every year to cleanse fields of insects and other un- desirable pests; gamma irradiation might provide a better soil-cleansing operation. Even though radioisotopes are widely us industry for gauges, the automation of processing, the manufacture of new materials, and so on, there is still reluctance in some quarters to use radiation because of concern that the public may be unw to accept products from a company utilizing radia- tion technology. ‘The U.S. space program has stagnated some- what over the past decade or two because policy- makers have been exceptionally cautious about de- veloping nuclear propulsion engines. Fears of minute quantities of radioactive materials falling back to Earth aftet a mishap in space have sometimes over- shadowed the fact that deep space exploration with sizable payloads simply cannot be accomplished without nuclear propulsion, The United States has launched only one nuclear reactor into space to date, but there are now plans to build and launch a sub- stantially larger reactor as a key part of the Jupiter fey Moon project. Since the 9/11 tragedy, public fears have risen about terrorists” possible use of a radiation dispersal ssdevice (RDD) or “dirty bomb.” Although this is clearly possible, the actual health effects from such a detonation would almost certainly be far less than imagined by a frightened public. Several scores of radioisotopes are being used to supply the benefits described throughout this article, but oaly a handful of radioisotopes pose a real potential hazard in an RDD. Hence, it is important that police and firefighters be trained to deal with real dangers rather than perceived ones, so that unnecessary panic does not take place if someone threatens to use such a device or actually sets one off. It is clear that President Eisenhower's challenge to use the atom for peace has been ably met. The benefits achieved over the past 50 years are nothing short of astonishing. One out of every three patients who enter a U.S. hospital or medical clinic, fo stance, benefits directly from nuclear medicine. This translates into over 10 million nuclear medical pro- cedures per year. Even broader beneficial impacts are possible, such as the successful adoption of food irradiation in normal commerce. Bot there are significant obstacles to overcome whenever radiation is used, mainly because of li gering public fears. Perhaps the most significant suc- cess that the scientific community could strive for in this field in the next 50 years is to effectively engage the public and political leaders in a dialogue to elim- inate unnecessary fears of radiation. Making people more aware of the enormous daily benefits of radi tion is an important first step. If we could accom- plish this, the dream of a better world that President Eisenhower set before us could be achieved many Recommended reading B. S. Ahloowalia, M. Maluszynski, and Karin Nichtertein, “Global Impact of Mutation-Derived Varieties,” Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear ‘Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Interna- tional Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Febru ary 2003. International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), Induced Mutations and Molecular Techniques for Crop Production, proceedings of a sympo- ‘sium jointly organized by IAEA and FAO, Vi- enna, June 19 to 23, 1995. Management Information Services, Economic and Employment Benefits of the Use of Nuclear En- ergy to Produce Electricity (1994), Management Information Services, The Untold Story: Economic and Employment Benefits of the Use of Radioactive Materials (1994), ‘Management Information Services, The Untold Story: the Economie Benefits of Nuclear Technologies 1996). “Irradiated Food, Good; Food-Borne Pathogens, Bad,” Nuclear News, July 2003, p. 62. Jitnai Qian, and Alexander Rogov, “Atoms for Peace: Extending the Benefits of Nuclear Technologies” (2003) (http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatoms Periodicals/Buill37 /qian.hunl Uranium Information Centre, Australia (2003) (¢hitp:/twww.uic.com.au/peac htm). Kazavki Yanagisawa et al,, “An Economic Index Regarding Market Creation of Products Oblained, from Utilization of Radiation and Nuclear En- ergy (IV)," Journal of Nuclear Science and Tech- nalogy 39, no. 10 (Qetober 2002); 1120-1124, [SSUES IN SCEENCE AND TECISOLOGY