SteriGenics Acquires Electron Beam Facility

SteriGenics International Inc. (Fremont, CA) has bought a facility in Gaithersburg, MD to enlargen their electron beam processing network.

The acquisition of the facility, which belongs to Irradiation Industries Inc., makes SteriGenics the largest contract irradiation company.

"While SteriGenics has enjoyed a portion of the materials processing market both through our gamma facilities and our electron beam facility in San Diego, Irradiation Industries clearly captured a large portion of that market through their strong customer relations. It is our intent to maintain and build onto those relations while providing for future growth," said James F. Clouser, president and CEO of SteriGenics.

The company also bought a Rhodotron, a high-powered electron beam accelerator designed and developed by Ion Beam Applications (IBA), and plans to build another facility to expand their electron beam operation. The Rhodotron will be installed there and be used for x-ray capabilities in the advanced applications market.

"The x-ray is a blending of the most favorable properties of both gamma and electron beam radiation. The x-ray possesses penetration characteristics similar to that of gamma rays, while using a machine-generated source like that of an electron beam," said Clouser.

Following the construction of the new facility, SteriGenics would be able to offer electron beam, x-ray and gamma ray technologies.