QCOSTARICA | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has opened a gamma-ray laboratory in Cartago, west of San Jose, with assistance from Costa Rica’s TEC technological institute.
The main component of the new lab is Costa Rica’s only self-shielded irradiator, that will be used for research into methods of sterilizing medical and hospital devices, inducing mutations in vegetables to make them more resistant to disease and pests, and modifying the properties of new materials, among other applications.
IAEA’s director-General Yukiya Amano, said, “we put high value on our cooperation with Costa Rica and look forward to strengthening it in coming years.”
Amano added that some 130 Costa Rica scientists had made working visit to IAEA’s nuclear laboratories in Vienna.
According to IAEA, the controlled emission of high-intensity gamma rays has several uses, including the reduction of bacteria and fungi in materials and foods to extend their shelf-life. The technology is also used to create new plant varieties, and improving crops such as cotton, wheat, peanut, corn, rice, fruit trees, oil palm, pineapple and potato.
In medicine, gamma rays are used to sterilize skin or bone tissue or heart valves to treat injuries and chronic diseases.
IAEA is expected to help Costa Rica to establish additional scientific laboratories and bolster radiotherapy and nuclear medicine capabilities in the country’s hospitals.