Work begins on construction of 50,000 tons/year irradiation center in Can Tho

Every year, the Mekong Delta region has a demand to transport about 18 million tons of export goods. However, this region does not have a large-capacity irradiation center to meet such a demand for large and fastidious markets.

This leads to the fact that 70% of the region's goods have to be transported to major ports in Ho Chi Minh City and Cai Mep Port on Ba Ria - Vung Tau, making transportation costs rise to 10-40% higher (depending on the routes), affecting the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in the market.

Many seminars were held to find solutions on removing bottlenecks for the logistics industry in the Mekong Delta in which agricultural experts pointed out that cold storage systems, sea transport connection and the development of large capacity irradiation centers in the region were urgently essential issues.Can Tho Irradiation Joint Stock Company (ICT) held a groundbreaking ceremony at Can Tho port on July 14 for a warehouse complex and a multi-purpose industrial irradiation line with an expected capacity of up to  50,000 tons/year. When put into operation, the cluster will play an important role in solving logistics problems for the whole Mekong Delta.

Specifically, in phase 1, ICT will build a multi-purpose industrial irradiation line VINAGA1 using Cobalt-60 source, a current popular technology in the world. This technology is designed and manufactured by the Center for Research and Development of Radiation Technology (VINAGAMMA) of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute.The line is expected to go into operation in early 2023, on an area of nearly 2ha in Phu Thang area, Tan Phu ward, Cai Rang district, Can Tho City.

Along with that, a warehouse complex, including 1 normal warehouse, 3 cold storages with storage temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius and 15 degrees Celsius, was also built to meet the businesses' diverse demands.

According to Mr. Tran Chi Thanh, Director of the Institute of Atomic Energy (IAE) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, currently irradiation technology is developing strongly with many private units having used this technology for the irradiation quarantine purpose in export.

In the South, a number of units have also engaged in the field but with a smaller scale and not a large quantity. It is obvious that an irradiation unit in Can Tho city is very necessary for the export of agricultural and aquatic products of the Mekong Delta.

Mr. Thanh affirmed the irradiation center in Can Tho is the first one built at a Vietnamese port. “Irradiation centres built previously are often located outside the port so the transportation and custom irradiation are not close to each other causing an increase in the cost of exported goods. The construction of an irradiation center and a warehouse cluster at Can Tho port will contribute to closing the export process quickly, saving costs and being convenient for businesses," said Thanh.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Tin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Can Tho Irradiation Joint Stock Company, expressed that the company's long-term goal is to promote the application of atomic energy, to bring nuclear science and technology to life, especially to promote sustainable agricultural development.The construction of a warehouse complex and an irradiation line at Can Tho port will contribute to completing a regional logistics center with full functions of transport - distribution - storage - irradiation.

At the same time, it will help remove the biggest bottleneck for the economic development of the Mekong Delta in terms of the logistics linkage from production to consumption, strongly promoting the export of goods through Can Tho port.

According to the IAE, irradiation technology is using radioactive rays to kill insects, molds and bacteria in food. It helps agricultural and aquatic products achieve higher quality, long preservation time, serving for export to countries with different requirements.This technology has been studied, researched and transferred by the IAE Since the 1980s, the Institute has deployed the first irradiation line in Hanoi. In 1999, it opened another in HCM City and one at a unit under the Institute.