Radioecology:: History and state-of-the-art at the beginning of the 21st century

The history of radioecology is described from the end of the XIX - the beginning of the XX centuries till the present days with the indication of the major evolutionary stages of this area of knowledge. The ecological aspects of the use of nuclear power engineering for military purposes (global contamination of the environment after nuclear tests) in the 1960s-1980s are elucidated. The paper also touches upon the ecological problems of nuclear power engineering development. Some issues of the radiation protection of the environment are analysed (anthropocentric and ecocentric principles). The paper summarises the main tasks of radioecology at the present stage. The role is stressed of studying the importance of the elevating radiation background of the environment considering the ever-growing anthropogenic pressure to biota.