Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary of the Atomic Energy Department Dr AK Mohanty today expressed the opinion that radiation technology will be more important in the process of food preservation in the future. He was speaking while unveiling ROTEX-I, India’s first tungsten-shielded, iridium-192-based industrial radiography equipment at the Center of Radiation and Isotope Board in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The device has been developed under the leadership of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT).

Dr Mohanty said that with the use of radiation, it will be convenient to preserve food grains for a long time. Especially, if radiation is used in the process of keeping onions, and potatoes in cold storage, their durability will increase by five to eight months which will benefit the farmers of the country.

ROTEX-I is completely Indian-made and developed under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Dr Mohanty said by reducing India’s dependence on imports, this device will help save foreign exchange, benefiting the economy as a whole.

The Rotex-I technology is going to be used to detect the defect in the equipment used in the industrial sector without opening it, thus saving money and time in identifying the exact defect.