(Русский) 26-31 августа 2018 года – IRaP2018

(Русский) 26-31 августа 2018 года – IRaP2018

"(Русский) The 13th meeting of the “Ionizing Radiation and Polymers”"

(Русский) History

The effects of ionizing radiation on polymers are extremely important for a wide variety of fields ranging from medicine and biotechnology to nuclear power production and space technology. Generally speaking polymers can be submitted to ionizing radiation in various situations, either intentionally or in the course of their normal use. Ionizing radiation of polymers have been used for more than fifty years for industrial applications. As a consequence, the radiation chemistry of polymers has been intensely studied.

Despite the growing scientific and technical interest of radiation-induced modifications on polymers, there was no dedicated meeting where scientists dealing with the effects of ionizing radiation on polymers would exchange and disseminate their knowledge before the early 1990ths. To fill this gap, Dr. N. Betz, Dr. A. Le Moël, from the French Atomic commission (CEA) and their coworkers from Germany decided to organize an international conference addressing this subject.

The IRaP meetings were initiated with the threefold aim to

1) bring together scientists from research centers, universities and industry,

2) to provide a forum to exchange knowledge and information in this field, and

3) to promote innovative applications.

The IRaP meetings started in 1994, in France, and since then have been organized in various countries on three continents, including France (1996, 2000), Germany (1998), Canada (2002), Belgium (2004), Turkey (2006), Brazil (2008), USA (2010), Poland (2012), South Korea (2014). Although relatively young, the IRaP conference has established itself as an important forum for discussing the effects of ionizing radiation on polymers. During these biannual meetings, chemists, physicists, biologists, nuclear and material engineers and industrials working with gamma rays, electrons, ion beams and plasmas discuss new development in basic and applied radiation chemistry and physics of polymer systems, new trend in radiation processing of polymers, and emerging technologies.

The last meeting was again held in France in September 2016 and it was very fruitful and successful. During this meeting it was decided that IRaP 2018 will be organized in Russia. Despite the fact that the former Soviet Union and Russia have long standing traditions in radiation chemistry and radiation processing of polymers, it is first time when this meeting with well-established international reputation comes to our country.