Radioactivity in the Environment

Numerous sources of ionizing radiation can lead to human exposure: natural sources, nuclear explosions, nuclear power generation, use of radiation in medical, industrial and research purposes, and radiation emitting consumer products. Before assessing the radiation dose to a population one requires a precise knowledge of the activity of a number of radionuclides. The basis for the assessment of the dose to a population from a release of radioactivity to the environment, the estimation of the potential clinical heath effects due to the dose received and, ultimately, the implementation of countermeasures to protect the population, is the measurement of radioactive contamination in the environment after the release.It is the purpose of this book to present the facts about the presence of radionuclides in the environment, natural and man made. There is no aspect of radioactivity, which has marked the passing century, not mentioned or discussed in this book.

Dr. Vladivoj (Vlado) Valkovic, professor of physics, received his PhD in physics in 1964, with the thesis 'Nuclear reactions with 14.4 MeV neutrons.” He was employed with the Institute Ruder Boskovic from 1961 until his retirement in 2004. During this time, he also worked at Rice University, Houston, Texas (1965-67, 1970-73, 1975-77, as a professor of physics) and International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria (1989-1996, as a Head of Physics-Chemistry-Instrumentation Laboratory). Since 2004 he has been active through his companies VALKOVIC Consulting and SAGITTARIUS Consulting.The list of his professional collaborations includes: Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia (Associated member); Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Legnaro (Padova), Italy (1986-1996: Guest scientist and fellow); Free University, Amsterdam, Holland (1981-1982: Visiting professor); University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia (1973-1975, 1977-1979: Professor of physics); University of Houston, Department of Physics Houston, Texas, USA (1971-1973: Adjunct professor).He is a fellow of American Physical Society and Institute of Physics (London), and he is the author of 18 books and more than 390 scientific and technical publications in major scientific journals in the research areas of nuclear physics and instrumentation application of nuclear techniques to problems in biology, medicine, environmental research and trace element analysis. His present interests include the role of trace elements in biological systems, influence of weak magnetic fields on trace element concentration factors and the role trace elements play in the origin of life in the Universe.