Nuclear forensics: formation and role in modern conditions

The article is devoted to the problems of formation nuclear forensic as a new scientific direction. The need to apply to special knowledge as a result of the illegal use (trafficking) of weapons of mass destruction is determined. The specificity of the subject of a criminal offence (nuclear and radioactive materials, chemical warfare agents, pathogenic microorganisms or other biological agents) is determines the appeal to special knowledge in various fields: nuclear physics, chemistry, military toxicology, radiology, microbiology, virology, medicine, military medicine, forensic medicine and etc. In the course of the investigation of such offenses, it is possible to use traditional criminalistic knowledge. Authors are paid attention to the essence of nuclear forensics and to its place in the scientific and applied meaning. Nuclear forensic is an effective tool for determining the origin of the identification of detected nuclear and other radioactive materials and collecting evidentiary information. The Concept of the state program for the development of nuclear forensics in Ukraine has been developed and is being implemented, attention is also drawn to the role of international institutions regarding countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction