Tsinghua’s Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) and CGN Nuclear Technology Development Co. Ltd. (CGNNT) have been working together on applying electron beam (E-beam) irradiation technology to the fight against the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The team have applied electron beam irradiation technology to the sterilization of medical supplies and the treatment of medical waste water. Up to early morning on February 14, the team had processed 105 batches of medical materials with radiation sterilization, including surgical masks and medical protective clothing totaling 5.2 million pieces.
The targeted application of radiation can kill viruses or pathogenic microorganisms and degrade toxic pollutants in waste water by using gamma rays generated by radionuclides, or high-energy electron beams generated by electron accelerators.
Since 2003, with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China Project, the 863 Project, the Ministry of Science and Technology’s projects in international cooperation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cooperation projects, Tsinghua University has been working closely with CGNNT and acquired completely independent intellectual property rights for E-beam irradiation technology, which has been successfully used in refractory industry waste water treatment and medical waste treatment, as well as the disinfection and sterilization of medical supplies. The technology won the only first prize for the China Nuclear Energy Association's technological invention in 2019.
On February 16, the team commenced cooperation with Shiyan Xiyuan Hospital in Hubei Province, using E-beam irradiation technology for medical waste water treatment in hospitals with novel coronavirus pneumonia patients. This helps with epidemic prevention and control, with a focus on the prevention of hospital medical waste water treatment issues. It has significantly improved efforts to prevent the virus from entering the environment through medical waste water.
Writer: Hilary Shi
