Until as recently as a century ago, the exposure of biological systems to radiation was limited only to the natural sources. Today, however, a broad range of radiation types and doses have found a wide variety of uses and applications, so much so that it would be difficult to make a list of all the areas of human activity in which radiation is used for one purpose or another. The study of radiation effects on individuals and populations as a whole has become important only with the development of methods and sources of man-made radiation.

Copper ore is one of the most important raw materials for industrial production. Increasing demands have been increasing its extraction generally. Shallow deposits with higher copper grade are mostly exhausted and the open pits become deeper, also the amount of overburden and the problems of its disposal are increased. In some cases large quantities of overburden can solve the problem of recultivation of degraded areas. This is the case of recultivation of degraded areas on the location of the closed open pit Bor.