"The place is the desert of eastern Idaho. The building is oblong, low, distinguised only by the danger signs spotted around it warning "Radiation Area." Inside are numerous electronic instruments and what looks like an elongated swimming pool, about 6 feet wide, 30 feet long and 20 feet deep. A white-coated technician slowly lowers a cellophane bag of potatoes to the bottom of the tank, where it comes to rest opposite several bricklike blocks. He leaves it there for a brief interval. Then he raises it up again. The whole process is noiseless, except for the drip-drip of the water. When the bag is raised, the potatoes look no different than they did before they were dunked. But they are different. These potatoes now may be stored for a year or longer, and they will never sprout. Such treatment of potatoes can stop a major cause of financial loss to potato growers."
Good Reading Rack Service, 1957
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