[en] The 8th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry and instrumentation; public exposure; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and non-ionizing radiation. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

[en] Motivation and encouragement for the Glossary were given as the research theme for the joint seminar between the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and Rudjer Boskovic Institute, within a postgraduate course subject ''Detectors and electronic instrumentation for particle physics''. A basic motivation is due to a lack of specialized literature in Croatian language in the field of protection of ionising radiation as well as the incompleteness of Croatian terminology in the same field. That is a general problem all over the World because the most glossaries are usually connected either with nuclear power plants or with an application of ionising radiation in medicine. On the other hand, a necessity for the specialized literature for radiation protection which follows a development of modern particle physics and its detection technique is rapidly growing up. A work and development on the Glossary were faced with serious difficulties, since various translations of foreign words and acronyms have already been used by various authors in Croatian literature. Different interpretations of the same term or concept, from diverse sources, had to be very often reconciled. However, the biggest challenge was finding proper Croatian words for the foreign terms, concepts, properties, and quantities which have not yet been commonly used so far in Croatian papers or/and Croatian legislative acts. According to our knowledge this seems to be the first comprehensive Glossary, describing the field of ionising radiation protection and bringing of 300 related entries (terms and guidelines). That is, certainly, the first characteristic Thesaurus in Croatian which includes background of modern physics and chemistry, particle phenomenology and its measurement, all dedicated to the radiological protection of workers, environment and people of the World. A Glossary brings a wide spectrum of terms of broad area of chemistry, radiation protection, nuclear and particle physics. A particular attention was paid for the terms and procedures in the laboratories of radiochemistry, and accelerators facilities for the low energies particle beams. A motivation, content, and selected items of the Glossary will be only promoted by this paper. The first full version of the Glossary will be published soon, to be reviewed by users and experts in order to receive their corrections or comments. (author)

[en] Laboratories involved in the protection against radiation and therefore in the measurement of radioactivity, dose rate and contamination have always been tied to the quality of their measurements, particularly those that have performed measurements for nuclear power plants. However in the laboratories more than quality it was more important, that people are professional, that they are engaged in scientific work and know how to interpret the results. Very often these are things that do not go along with reviewing the measuring instruments and quality records. However customer requires measurement results that can be trusted. This is the purpose of the standard SIST EN ISO / IEC 17025 in which the requirements for testing and calibration laboratories are standardised. The standard is in force since 1999. In some countries, a request for accreditation of testing laboratories according to SIST EN ISO / IEC 17025 is even in regulation. This request is for example in the Croatian and Slovenian regulations for laboratories involved in measuring the radioactivity, dose rate, contamination, or by checking the X-ray apparatus. Several laboratories have been accredited for several years. From that experience we can conclude that customer gets reliable results from the accredited laboratories at relatively low cost. On the other side laboratory which is accredited has introduced a line of work in the laboratory, there are rules for equipment, personnel, training and all that eventually enhance measurement expertise. With accreditation, it is much easier to compensate for the loss of workers due to pension or leaving the laboratory because every moment must always be in the laboratory at least two who know how to work on the method. Accreditation is not improving radiation protection or reducing becquerel in the air. But at least we know how accurate mSv or Bq are and how small mSv and Bq can be measured. (author)

[en] Apart from being among first potential victims of exposure to ionising radiation, physicists and chemists were also first to warn about harmful effects of radiation to living organisms. Physicians as well as some other professionals were first to experience consequences of prolonged and cumulative exposure to ionising radiation. In this paper the work of first notable scientists in the field of radiation science in Croatia until year 1945 is discussed. It is evident that effective beginning of radiation science in Croatia, as well as radiation protection in Croatia can be traced to the end of 19''th century. Search of archives and known literature not only gave insight to life and work of some of these radiation science doyens but also enabled for more systematic recollections of previously unknown facts and details important for history and development of radiation science, radiation protection as well as medical physics. Consequently, it can be concluded that Croatia from the very beginning not only followed all contemporary scientific knowledge from this fields but also made notable contributions. However, the need for larger and more systematic review of this problematic calls for further research. (author)

[en] International cooperation of the Republic of Croatia in the field of radiological and nuclear safety can be divided in two parts - political part, for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is responsible, and technical part, for which the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety is responsible. According to the Radiological and Nuclear Safety Act (OG 28/10) the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety: ''coordinates technical cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency for all participants from the Republic of Croatia''; ''fulfils the obligations which the Republic of Croatia has assumed through international conventions and bilateral agreements concerning protection against ionising radiation, nuclear safety and the application of protective measures aimed at the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons'' and ''cooperates with international and domestic organisations and associations in the area of protection against ionising radiation and nuclear safety, and appoints its own expert representatives to take part in the work of such organisations and associations or to monitor their work''. In this paper various aspects of the technical cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as international conventions and bilateral agreements in the field of radiological and nuclear safety, are presented. Also, cooperation with other international organizations and associations in the area of radiological and nuclear safety, such as Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Zangger Committee, the Wassenaar Arrangement, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Euratom and certain civil expert groups of NATO, is described. (author)

[en] EMITEL (European Medical Imaging Technology e-Encyclopaedia for Lifelong Learning) is an electronic encyclopaedia and multilingual dictionary related to medical imaging technologies. It is a result of the multi-annual international project which involved more than 250 contributors from 35 countries, aiming to foster development of medical physics and biomedical/clinical engineering by a lifelong e-learning web tool for all interested individuals or groups. Currently, the encyclopaedia is equivalent to about 2100 hard copy pages and includes about 3300 terms with an explanatory article for each term. The dictionary provides bidirectional cross-translation of terms between any two among 28 languages from its current database. Dictionary entries are divided into seven groups: diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound imaging, radiation protection and general terms. Croatian language was implemented in EMITEL dictionary in April 2010. There were 17 Croatian translators and reviewers from 8 institutions and 3 cities, ranging from medical physics experts to linguist. The basic terminological principles of translation were final intelligibility of terms, desirable Croatian origin and linguistic appropriateness. Croatian contribution in the actual phase of EMITEL project attempted to improve the quality and efficiency of the specific professional, scientific and teaching terminology. A sort of novel, consistent and verified pool of terms of emerging medical imaging technologies was built up, as a one small part of the process of developing information technologies and socio-cultural transition from the industrial society into the society of knowledge. (author)

[en] Mortality reduction through screening mammography (SMG) is possible only with examination of high image quality (IQ), which should be performed with acceptable patient breast radiation dose (BRD). Besides film processing control, equipment assessment with breast phantom and dosimetry, periodical external mammographic IQ assessment (MIQA) is needed, including image labelling (L), breast positioning (BP), exposure (EX) and artefacts (AR) assessment. The nationwide breast cancer screening program (NBSP) has been introduced in Croatia in 2006, and the MIQA is initiated as the first step in establishing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) framework in breast imaging in Croatia. The current study was aimed: (1) to provide objective evidence about the technical MIQ in NBSP in Croatia, (2) to compare MIQ between different types of mammographic units (MUs), (3) to identify the common deficiencies, and (4) to propose corrective activities. Mammograms (MGs) for IQA were collected from a total of 84 MUs which participate in NBSP, which represents 70 % of all MUs nationwide: A total of 420 MG examinations were reviewed. Each MU was requested to submit ''what they consider to be their five best representative MGs, each one performed in one of five consecutive workdays''. Mean age of MG machines was 7.76 years (range 2 - 21), with no difference between four MU types. This very first study of MIQ in Croatia corroborated our intuitive impression of inadequate IQ, staff training and equipment in many MUs nationwide. As MIQ strongly influences BC detection rate, suboptimal QA/QC always carries a risk to compromise the success of NBSP. Deficiencies in SMG, especially in ID and BP reflect different level of competency of radiological staff in Croatia. Differences in MIQ in various MU types are determined by their organization, equipment, education, working habits and motivation. More efforts are needed to train both RTs and radiologists to implement and maintain QA/QC in their institutions. (author)

[en] Efficient interaction of technical legislation, metrology, standardization and accreditation within the system of quality infrastructure is precondition for assurance of safety of goods and services as well as protection of humans and environment. In the paper importance of quality infrastructure on national and international levels is presented while special interest is paid to accreditation. Current situation regarding the accreditation of laboratories in the field of radiation science is presented. Regarding this field, in Croatia three laboratories are accredited by Croatian Accreditation Agency: 1. Laboratory for Radioecology, Rudjer Boskovic Institute (Scope: Measurement of radionuclide content in environmental samples and commodities - Including foodstuffs and drinking water) 2. EKOTEH Dozimetrija Ltd., Department for Radiation Protection (Scope: Testing in the scope of ionizing and nonionizing radiation) 3. Radiation Protection Unit, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (Scope: Determination of radioactivity). (author)

[en] The production of phosphate fertilizers and its effects on human health and the environment are the subject of systematic investigation conducted by Radiation protection unit of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health. During phosphate ore processing, practically all 226Ra gets incorporated into phosphogypsum, which classifies it as technologically-enhanced NORM - Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. In this paper natural radionuclides (40K, 232Th and 226Ra) were measured gamma-spectrometricaly and the activity concentrations were calculated. Due to recent investigations which are focused on phosphogypsum usage in road construction, mine remediation, agriculture etc., radium equivalent (Ra_eq) and external hazard index (H_ex) were calculated. (author)

[en] Radon monitoring at potentially highly radioactive location such as caves is important to assess the radiological hazards to occupational workers and occasional visitors. In its Publication 65 the ICRP has produced recommendations dealing with exposure to elevated background radiation, in particular, the risk associated with the inhalation of radon and radon progeny. Recommended annual effective dose from radon 222Rn and its short-lived progeny for workers should not exceed 20 mSv and for occasional users (visitors) the same recommendation is 1 mSv. Measurements were performed with series of track etched detectors (LR115 - type II) in several caves in Croatia. The obtained values for the radon concentration ranged from ambient values up to several thousand Bq m^-3. Radon concentration was measured in about 20 caves of Velebit and Zumberak mountains and the highest radon concentration was in Lubuska jama (3.8 kBq m^-3) and cave Dolaca (21.8 kBq m^-3), respectively. Djurovica cave is especially interesting because of its huge tourist potential due to its location bellow Dubrovnik airport. Its mean annual radon concentration of 17.6 kBq m^-3 classifies Djurovica cave among caves with high radon concentration. A visitor during half an hour visit at summer time would receive an effective dose of 30.6 μSv. Calculated mean dose rate of 44 μSv/h means that workers (mainly tourist guides) should limit their time inside cave to 454 hours per year. Manita pec is the only cave open for tourists on the territory of Paklenica National Park. The preliminary radon measurements performed during summer 2010, gave an average radon concentration of 1.1 kBq m^-3. An exposure to average dose rate of 3.7 μSv/h means that the tourist guides would receive an effective dose of 0.42 mSv during summer period according to their working schedule. A visitor during half an hour visits would receive an effective dose of 1.86 μSv. (author)