Strong electromagnetic fields are radiated during the operation of the intense electron-beam accelerator (IEBA), which may lead to the nearby electronic devices out of order. In this paper, the research on the electromagnetic radiation characteristic of the gas main switch of a capacitive IEBA is carried out by the methods of theory analysis and experiment investigation. It is obtained that the gas main switch is the dominating radiation resource. In the absence of electromagnetic shielding for the gas main switch, when the pulse forming line of the IEBA is charged to 700 kV, the radiation field with amplitude of 3280 V/m, dominant frequency of 84 MHz and high frequency 100 MHz is obtained at a distance of 10 meters away from the gas main switch. The experimental results of the radiation field agree with the theoretical calculations. We analyze the achievements of several research groups and find that there is a relationship between the rise time (T) of the transient current of the gas main switch and the dominant frequency (F) of the radiation field, namely, F*T=1. Contrast experiment is carried out with a metal shield cover for the gas main switch. Experimental results show that for the shielded setup the radiation field reduces to 115 V/m, the dominant frequency increases to 86.5 MHz at a distance of 10 away meters from the gas main switch. These conclusions are beneficial for further research on the electromagnetic radiation and protection of the IEBA.