Annex 3

Summary of FNCA Open Seminar“Applications of Radiation Technology to Support Sustainable Development”
10th February 2016
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI)
Manila, the Philippines

Presentation 1: Application of Radiation Technology for Industry and Agriculture in thePhilippines(Dr Lucille V. Abad, Head of the Chemistry Research Section, Atomic Research Division ofPhilippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI))At present, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) is the sole institute withirradiation facilities in the Philippines, namely the multi-purpose gamma irradiation facility
built in 2008 and the 2.5 MeV electron accelerator facility established in 2011.

These

irradiation facilities are utilized by the researchers of the Atomic Research Division in
producing radiation processed materials with various applications in agriculture, health, industry
and environment. The radiation degradation of carrageenan as plant growth promoter has
already been set up for multi-location field-testing across the country. Current studies arebeing made for the development of super water absorbent from natural polymers for use inagriculture to mitigate the effects of El Nino and water shortage.

The PNRI has also

investigated the use of radiation processing in the production of medical products such as
wound dressings made from honey-alginate or PVP-carrageenan, vesicoureteral reflux
bio-implant from PVP-chitosan and hemostatic agents from cellulose.
shown great potential in lab experiments and animal testing.

These products have

Radiation grafting has also

created specialized materials for environmental remediation and heavy metal absorption for thetanning industry.

Value addition by grafting to abaca, a plant indigenous in the Philippines,

has been investigated for use as absorbents.
Presentation 2: Research and Development of Radiation Processing in Japan for Industry andEnvironment(Dr Masao Tamada, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Japan)

Many products such as heat resistant cable, button battery, and radial tire have beencommercialized by technology transfer of economically feasible radiation processing since
1970s in Japan. This is because radiation processing such as crosslinking and grafting is aunique technique for material development, which cannot be realized by only thermal reaction.
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Another key point of technology transfer is to respond the needs of end-users and utilize
advantages of radiation processing.
modification of polymers.

Crosslinking is the most available technique for

Car components of heat resistant cable, radial tire, and interior form

sheet were produced by crosslinking to modify the thermal stability, reliability, and mechanicaldurability, respectively. Dummy lens made of poly (lactic acid) and spray coating of Washi(traditional paper in Japan), 3D dosimeter are promising products for commercialization.
Grafting can introduce the desired functions into the commercially available trunk polymers.
High performance adsorbents for uranium recovery from seawater, scandium collection fromhot spring water, cadmium removal from scallop processing waste, and cesium removal fromtap water were developed by the grating.

The technology transfer of such developed materials

proceeds in stepwise stages from technical consultation in exhibition and seminar and thencollaborative research using radiation processing technology.

Dissemination of radiation

applications is an effective way to persuade end users to adopt the radiation technology formaterial development.

A demonstration tool was commercialized to understand the radiation

effect by exhibiting shape memory effect of the polymer modified by radiation-crosslinking.
Presentation3: Success Stories of Radiation Processing Application in Thailand in Industryand Agriculture(Dr Phiriyatron Suwanmala, Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT))

During the past decade, Thailand has been utilizing the advantages that radiation
processing is able to offer in various fields, including industry and agriculture. Polymericmaterials, especially natural polymers such as starches, cellulose, chitin and chitosan are naturalmaterials with high potential for various applications from medical to environmental andagricultural due to their uniqu properties, especially biodegradability and biocompatibility. Oneof Thailand’s success stories is the preparation of super water absorbent (or SWA) from cassava
starch for agriculture application. The properties of SWA are very attractive to farmers. SWAacts as a local reservoir, releasing water vapour into soil and plants as needed and also maintainmoisture at balance. Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of cassava products. The
production of cassava starch often exceeds the export and consumption scale which results in
Thailand’s surplus of unused cassava starch. The development of superabsorbent by radiation
processing is therefore a promising method to increase the values of cassava starch which isabundant and inexpensive. The use of this natural polymer as SWA can relieve the lack of waterin the arid rural areas of Thailand. In addition, radiation-induced degradation was used to reducethe molecular weight of the prepared chitosan, yielding oligochitosan. The obtained
oligochitosan was tested for its potential use as plant growth promoter. The effects ofoligochitosan on Thai chili’s growth and productivity were investigated in term of plant height,
2total number of chilies, total weight of chili, total number of green chilies, total number of redchilies, harvest time and weight per chili. The results showed that the application ofoligochitosan, at the concentration of 80 ppm, mixed with the fertilizer displayed significant
effects, statistically, on chili height, total weight of chili, total number of chilies, total number ofgreen chilies, total number of red chilies and weight per chili. The results showed that
productivity was increased up to 34%. The oligochitosan exhibited the ability to protect not only
aphid inflection but also the ability to shorten the harvest time of chili plants. The treatment ofchili plants by oligochitosan clearly displayed positive effects on chili’s growth and productivity.
These results suggest its potential use in agriculture purposes as growth promoter for Thai chili
plants.
Presentation4: Biological Efficacy Evaluation of Radiation Modified Kappa-Carrageenan andChitosan as Inducers of Resistance Against Major Pests and Diseases in Rice(Dr Gil Magsino, University of the Philippines Los Banos)The

projectonthebiologicalefficacy

evaluationofradiation

modifiedkappa-carrageenan as plant growth promoter and inducer of resistance against major pests anddiseases in rice is a component of a 3 year program on the development of plant growthpromoter (PGP) from radiation modified natural polymers that started in May 2013. The
National Crop Protection is in charge of the determination of PGP efficiency in field tests.
Significant disease resistance against tungro virus and bacterial leaf blight was found in ricegreenhouse and semi-field tests. There was also a surprising observation of how the crops
treated with PGP remained standing while surrounding crops were lodged during the Typhoon
Lando last October 2015. The current recommended treatment of PGP is 3 liters per hectare inthree applications during the early vegetative stage (12-14 DAT), maximum tillering to panicle
initiation stage (30035 DAT) and before flowering stage (45-50 DAT).

Information

dissemination and distribution of PGP are currently being done in farms on seven different
regions in the country for a multi-locational field testing.

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