Peace Applications and Potential Terrorist Misuse of Uraninite

This thesis is called Peaceful Use and Possible Terroristic Abuse of Uraninite and as the title itself indicates it deals with the issues of uraninite and its practical application. The introduction of the thesis analyses the history of uraninite from its early extraction in the 16th century, via discovery of radioactivity to the present situation, the use of uraninite and its individual elements in various peaceful spheres, e.g. in research, industry, but also in medicine. The first aim of the thesis was to elaborate a comprehensive summary of present peaceful use of uraninite. I have managed that thanks to collection of available materials, technical literature and websites. The other aim was to evaluate the threats of terroristic abuse of uraninite. I performed studies and analysis of current legal standards related to radioactive substances and their handling, as well as documents and studies dealing with the dirty bomb issues to reach the goal. I illustrated on an example what possible terroristic abuse of uraninite in the form of the above mentioned dirty bomb might look like, and evaluated the possible risk upon the example