Feasibility of cooperation of Yugoslav nuclear institutes in marine investigations

Abstract

      Expounding the present state of natural sciences in Yugoslavia, the author speaks in favour of concentration of forces and of cooperation of various institutes and laboratories. Some marine biological investigations, carried out by the »Rugjer Bošković« Institute, Zagreb, are given as an example of such a cooperation. The author stresses a few fundamental points of contact between the laboratories in the littoral region and those in the hinterland, which provide a sound basis for cooperation. Viewing the seafrom the economic staundpoint, i. e. considering it as a source of food, the author emphasizes the importance, for the fishing industry, of investigations in the field of marine productivity. A number of scientific disciplines could be embraced, such as the study of the biocycle, the physiology of marine organisms, an immunological investigations of the radiation effect on fertilization and development of such organisms  Additional observations could also be included since marine organisms are an ideal model for the study of actual occurrences. It is also imperative that the spread and effects of radioactive fall-out should be traced. Modern science cannot detach itself from the problems of today since the atomic energy is no longer a thing of the future; on the contraty, it has become an actual fact, and nuclear-propelled ships now range the seas an oceans, nucler power plants have been built on the shores of the seas, and spent fuel is deposited in underwater storage chambers.