NOVELTY - Method of processing biomass, comprises quenching a biomass feedstock that has been irradiated to ionize the biomass feedstock so that that the feedstock has a first level of radicals, where the quenching is performed to an extent such that the radicals are at a second level, lower than the first level, in the quenched biomass.    USE - The methods are useful for processing a biomass to produce a combustible fuel, such as one or more of hydrogen, alcohols (e.g. ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol and/or n-butanol) and hydrocarbons (all claimed), by means of fermentation, which can be utilized for: powering cars, trucks, tractors, ships, trains, aircrafts such as planes with jet engines or helicopters; and electrical power generation e.g. in a conventional steam generating plant or in a fuel cell plant.    ADVANTAGE - The processing steps used in the methods reduce recalcitrance of the biomass feedstock and facilitate the conversion of the feedstock to yield fuels at a faster rate and at the optimum level.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for:    (1) method of processing biomass, comprising irradiating a biomass feedstock to change a molecular and/or supramolecular structure of the feedstock, cooling the irradiated feedstock and re-irradiating the biomass feedstock with a second dose of ionizing radiation;    (2) a method of converting an intermediate to a product comprising treating an irradiated intermediate product with a microorganism, where the intermediate has been prepared by irradiating a starchy material and treating the starchy material with an enzyme;    (3) a product produced by the methods;    (4) a biomass feedstock processing system (X1) comprising an irradiating device configured to ionize a biomass feedstock so that the feedstock has a first level of radicals detectable with an electron spin resonance spectrometer and a quenching device configured to quench the ionized biomass feedstock to an extent that the radicals are produced at a lower level than the first level; and    (5) a biomass feedstock processing system (Y1) comprising one or more irradiating devices configured to irradiate a biomass feedstock with at least two separate doses of irradiation and a cooling device configured to cool the biomass feedstock between doses of radiation.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a block diagram illustrating the conversion of biomass into products and co-products.    System for converting biomass (100)    Feed preparation subsystem (110)    Pretreatment subsystem (114)    Primary process subsystem (118)    Post-processing subsystem (122)