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The main focus of this paper lies with the national laws of three European countries (Germany, Austria and Hungary), as well as the EU law, relating to liability for damage caused by nuclear plant. The aforesaid European countries have enacted legislation prescribing stringent rules on liability of the operators of nuclear plants, meaning that for some forms of legally recognized harm (death, injury, damage to health) the operator incurs liability, even if damage was caused by force major. This type of strict liability, whereby force major is not reason for exculpation, provided that the damage could be related to functioning of the plant, is named absolute liability. In addition, some regimes introduce presumption of causality, when it is more likely than not that damage resulted from the effects of nuclear plants (or ionizing radiation, or secondary nuclear waste materials). The author also analyzes national and European rules on prevention of nuclear and other environmental damage, which includes the creation of the registry of nuclear plants with relevant data on domestic and European operators, the mechanisms of control of the operators, the requirement of preliminary ecological analysis in the construction of new plants, etc. In addition, the author observes differences between nuclear damage in broad and in narrow sense. The former is, in principle, redressed generally, to the extent possible. The latter is commonly redressed individually, to the extent prescribed by statutes.

Biodiesel, an alternative to fossil fuels, consists of alkyl, usually methyl, esters of fatty acids (FAME). Conventionally, it is mostly obtained by homogeneous base catalyzed methanolysis of edible oils. Despite the significant advantages, the main drawbacks of this process are the high requirements in terms of the quality of the raw materials and environmentally unfavorable processes of catalyst separation and products purification. For these reasons, the researches of biodiesel synthesis are aimed at developing new processes that are economically and environmentally acceptable. In this paper processes of FAME synthesis, their advantages, disadvantages and opportunities for improving are analyzed, in order to develop processes suitable for industrial applications. The main aim was to present an overview of the researches in developing biodiesel synthesis providing a high FAME yield, which are environmentally-friendly and economically acceptable. Heterogeneously catalyzed process has most often studied, aiming at developing catalytic active, stable and cheap catalysts as well as at process improvement. The developments of enzyme and noncatalytic processes are mainly aimed at reducing production costs and increasing the FAME yield under mild reaction conditions, respectively. Generally, the perspectives of biodiesel synthesis include the use of continuous processes and suitable reactor systems.

This paper presents the development of standardization in the field of energy efficiency, based on a review of available literature on this topic. The paper discusses the development of standardization of energy efficiency of household appliances, energy efficiency in buildings, energy efficiency in transport, standardization related to the use of renewable energy and energy management system standardization. The aim of this paper is to showcase the course of development and important events in the development of standardization in the field of energy efficiency, as well as to present an analysis of published articles on the topic of standardization of energy efficiency in prominent international journals. In research and formation of conclusions, analysis and synthesis methods are used.

The paper describes the real appearance of a new class of light sources. The technology progress allows the light emitting diodes (LED) to be applied for an in- and outdoor lightning. The special, high power diodes (HPLED) have too many advantages comparing to classical light sources and it is quite reasonable to expect their mass application in the indoor and outdoor lighting. The article contains a brief theoretical aspect of optics, explanations of the classical light sources parameters and typical examples. The performances of standard and high power LED are also included as well. The conclusions made at the paper end predict the massive usage LED for the lightning in a near future.

Wild fire occurred in the summer 2007 on the Vidlic Mountain (Serbia) overspreading a huge area of meadows and forests. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of wild fire on the content of heavy metals in plants Aegopodium podagraria, Hypericum perforatum and Chelidonium majus belonging to the families Apiaceae, Hypericaceae and Papaveraceae. Also, we examined the content of heavy metals in soil samples on which the test plants grow a year after fire. As control samples was investigated by the appropriate plant material and soil from the site in the immediate vicinity that was not affected by the fire. Metal content in the soil was determined in the fractions of extractible, bioavailable and pseudo total cations. The content of all examined heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn) is the biggest in pseudo total cations fractions and the lowest in bioavailable cations fractions. The exception is the land on which the plant A. Podagraria grows, because the content of copper and zinc was the largest in the fraction of extractable cations. The concentration of heavy metals in all fractions was always higher in soil samples that were exposed to the fire, except in the extractible metal cations fractions of A. podagraria and H. perforatum. Lead is characterized by the highest concentration in the soil of all three plant species. The lead content was much greater in pseudo total cations fractions. The underground parts of plants that were grown on both locations have a higher concentration of lead in relation to the above-ground portion. The content of zinc was higher in the plant samples than in samples of soil where the plants are grown. Above-ground parts of all three examined plants contain more copper than the corresponding underground parts of the plant. The underground parts of examined plants from location that were not exposed to the fire have higher levels of cadmium than plants from the localities which suffered from the fire.

The results obtained during the recycling of spent nickel based catalysts that generate in the oil hydrogenation process are presented. Nickel based catalysts are used for selective hydrogenation of the highly active plants oils. The used catalysts are classified in the H11 category of hazardous materials; they are deposited on the site and are potentially dangerous to the environment. Laboratory experimental research defined optimal conditions (temperature, time and solid-liquid ratio) and technological process of catalysts recycling. Hazardous waste is being converted to the category of non-hazardous, and extracted nickel as nickel-sulphate represents commercial product. The degree of recovery of nickel is higher than 95%.

The overview and analysis of the most important standards in the field of energy efficiency drives, in our country and abroad, are presented in the paper. Special attention is paid to standards relating to the efficiency and control motor speed.