Editing Food irradiation (section)

==== X-ray ====
[[X-ray|X-rays]] are produced by bombardment of dense target material with high-energy accelerated electrons (this process is known as [[bremsstrahlung]]-conversion), giving rise to a continuous energy spectrum.<ref name=":3" /> Heavy metals, such as [[tantalum]] and [[tungsten]], are used because of their high atomic numbers and high melting temperatures. Tantalum is usually preferred over tungsten for industrial, large-area, high-power targets because it is more workable than the latter and has a higher threshold energy for induced reactions.<ref>{{cite conference|url=http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/41/097/41097063.pdf|title=Radiation Processing with High-energy X-rays|conference=International Nuclear Atlantic Conference|date=2009|first1=Marshall R.|last1=Cleland|first2=Frédéric|last2=Stichelbaut|access-date=May 20, 2018|archive-date=July 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712154713/http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/41/097/41097063.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  Like electron beams, X-rays do not require the use of radioactive materials and can be turned off when not in use. X-rays have high penetration depths and high dose uniformity but they are a very expensive source of irradiation as only 8% of the incident energy is converted into X-rays.<ref name=":3" />