Growing awareness of environment pollution hazards causes more and more stringent waste disposal regulations in many countries which stimulate searching for new methods of waste disposal the best of which is recycling them after suitable treatment. Sludges from municipal sewage treatment plants contain organic and inorganic components valuable as soil fertilizer, so if disinfected they can be beneficially recycled in agriculture instead of being burdensome waste. Investigations performed in many countries showed that irradiation with a suitable dose of gamma or electron beam radiation makes sewage sludges sanitary safe and usable as soil fertilizer immediately after treatment. This paper describes some results of investigations performed in the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology and the Institute of Environmental Protection in Warsaw on the influence of 10 MeV electron beam on bacteria, parasites and parasite eggs present in sew-age sludges from different municipal sewage treatment plants in Poland Basic design parameters of the industrial installation elaborated on the basis of those experiments are presented, too.
