Brief history and scope

The effect of ionizing radiations on polymers can be either beneficial or detrimental. Polymers can be submitted to ionizing radiations in various situations, either intentionally or in the course of their normal use. Ionizing radiations of polymers have been used, for about fifty years, for industrial applications like sterilization, properties improvement, fabrication of shrinkable films for packaging, art crafts restoration and conservation, design of new materials, and so on. 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 were scientists dealing with the effect of ionizing radiations on polymers would exchange and disseminate their knowledge. 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. The last four meetings were organized in South Korea (2014), Poland (2012), The USA (2010), and Brazil (2008). Although relatively young, the IRaP conference has established itself as an important forum for discussing the effects of Ionizing Radiations 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.

Like most of the international conferences, the IRaP program comprises,keynote lectures from senior scientists, invited lectures on the most innovative studies, oral and poster presentations.