The meeting on radiation effects on polymers was held at the Radiation Laboratory at the
University of Notre Dame to review and discuss advances in the radiation processing of
polymers. The trends in the basic research, R&D and industrial applications were reported.
The scope of more applied uses of irradiation involving polymers ranged from discussions of the curing of materials for dental applications, to the effects on polyolefins (the most broadly used class of polymers prevalent in industrial radiation processing) and to emerging interests in hydrogels, carbon fiber composites, heterogeneous mixtures based on material by-products (scrap plastic and wood fragments), grafted materials and materials for electronic uses. In addition, the emerging interests in the use of recently developed high power x ray systems for industrial use were presented.