 Nuclear technology is helping countries like Cuba prevent fruit and vegetables from going to waste. With the support of the IAEA, a food irradiation facility in Havana, which has reopened after 20 years, is now equipped with brand and new technology. Several tons of fruits and vegetables get spoiled from the moment they are harvested until they reach consumers. Food irradiation helps decrease losses of food produced locally, which means Cuba will depend less on food imports and may increase the volume of experts in the future. For example, around 250,000 tons of mango are grown in Cuba every year, but over 20% of them are rotting or damaged before reaching the local market. Irradiation, using x-rays or gamma rays, can be used to slow down the ripening process. They can, with this process, increase the life of those products, because we make sure that the population has access to those products in long periods of time. It is a safe and effective method that helps maintain freshness and taste. Over 60 countries are using food irradiation to maintain the quality of fruit and vegetables. From Havana, Cuba, this is Alejandra Silva reporting for the IAEA.