Radioactivity in the Environment

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.

• 1. Introduction2. Radioactive Nuclides in Nature3. Technologically Modified Exposure to Natural Radiation4. Man Made Radioactivity5. Measurements of Radioactivity6. Radiation Safety7. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle8. The Bomb9. Monitoring Accidentally Released Radionuclides in the Environment10. Bomb Test Sites11. International Safeguards12. Environmental Monitoring for Safeguards13. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty