Electron beam facilities, due to the fact that they apply accelerated electron generators (accelerators), are different from gamma irradiation facilities. Moreover, having applied a specific target, electron beams can be transformed into x-rays in order to acquire more penetration depth. These facilities unlike gamma types can be shut down. Initial cost of x-ray and electron beam facilities as well as their maintenance are more compared to gamma ones but their throughput is way higher and there is no cost for recharging the decayed sources.
Due to the facts that electron beams have higher energy, much higher doses are achievable by these facilities. For instance, large-scale waste water disinfection, cross-linking processes in polymers, and hadron-therapy that require very high doses and energy can be implanted.