A national compilation of radiation protection courses in the medical and non-medical area acknowledged by the competent authorities can be found here.

The Radiation Protection Register is a federal central facility for the monitoring of occupational radiation exposure. It monitors the keeping of limits for the permissible annual doses and the occupational life dose and the issuing of radiation passports. The Radiation Protection Register compiles personal body dose values resulting from occupationally caused external and internal radiation exposure determined by the officially assigned measuring institutions and notional doses determined by the Laender supervisory authorities and possibly further information required for dose control. The same applies to the reports of the regional register authorities regarding the issuing of radiation passports and the corresponding official acts. In doing this, BfS fulfils a legal task which has been laid down in the Atomic Energy Act.

Currently, there are about 360,000 persons considered occupationally radiation exposed, this corresponds to one percent of the whole working population. Two-thirds of the occupationally radiation exposed persons work in the medical field. For all of them it must be ensured that the legally permitted limits will not be exceeded. To achieve this, occupational radiation exposure of these persons is monitored with personal dosimeters. About 20,000 persons work with open radioactive substances. Some of these persons are additionally examined regularly to see if they have taken up radioactive substances in their bodies, i. e. if they have incorporated radionuclides.

The Laender are responsible for occupational radiation protection. Numerous measuring institutions all over Germany assigned by the competent Laender authorities analyse the personal dosimeters or carry out tests for incorporation, respectively. These measuring institutions are obliged to forward their results regularly to the Radiation Protection Register. There the dose data are compiled and evaluated. If the Radiation Protection Register notices that limits have been exceeded, it informs the competent regional supervisory authority, who in turn investigates why limits have been exceeded. Through the central, personal compilation of the dose data it is ensured that e. g. the legally permitted maximum value of 400 millisievert for the occupational life dose of a working person can also be monitored if a working person changes from one responsible measuring institution to another in the course of his occupational activity.

Persons working in radiation protection areas of external facilities (e. g. mechanics or technical control personnel during the revision in a nuclear power plant) need a radiation passport in which details on the individual radiation exposure, exceeding of limits, health status etc. are entered. They are not allowed to access the control areas without this radiation passport. Currently there are about 65,000 persons who have radiation passports. The radiation passports are issued by 76 regional registering authorities, these are mostly Labour Inspectorates who provide the Radiation Protection Register with this information. If someone at the Radiation Protection Register notices that a person has more than one valid radiation passport, the competent registering authority will be informed.

Currently the Radiation Protection Register is being expanded. Since August 2003, flight personnel is monitored (about 30,000 persons).

On the long term the growing stock of data also serves to perform scientific evaluations under epidemiological aspects. Various fields of work where comparatively high individual doses occur can e. g. be marked and then investigated, so that further radiation protection measures can be taken, should this be necessary.

In 1996, the European Commission passed new European radiation protection basic standards. These apply to all European member countries. For example, a new 5-year-limit for occupationally radiation exposed persons of 100 millisievert has been established. Additionally, more and more radiation exposed employees change workplaces within Europe. For these persons it shall be ensured that radiation protection will be transboundary. The European Commission requested the BfS Radiation Protection Register to carry out several research projects with the objective of enquiring in the countries of the European Community and in all potential accession countries how occupational radiation protection is organised in these countries, how many persons are monitored regarding occupational radiation protection and in which fields it is reasonable and possible to harmonise occupational radiation protection monitoring.

Many people travel - for private or business reasons - by plane to their distant destinations. These planes often fly in altitudes and latitudes where there is clearly a higher level of cosmic radiation affecting man than on the ground. The energy of this radiation is so high that it cannot be shielded. Where does this radiation exposure come from?

The earth is permanently exposed to a stream of high-energetic atomic particles originating from the depths of the cosmos, the so-called cosmic radiation. On its way to the earth, cosmic radiation decreases with increasing density of the atmosphere. Protection against cosmic radiation is provided by the so-called "solar wind", which deflects part of the cosmic radiation from our solar system. This solar activity changes nearly regularly every eleven years. The higher the level of solar activity, the lower is the cosmic radiation, and vice versa. The earth magnetic field deflects a part of cosmic radiation, too. The strongest effect of this shielding is at the equator, while its weakest effect is in the northern and southern pole regions. The extent of the additional radiation exposure during flights thus depends in particular on the solar activity, on the air route, the duration of flight, and on the altitude.

On the ground, in addition to the remaining part of cosmic radiation, human beings are also exposed to radiation resulting from natural radioactive substances, mainly from the ground rocks of the earths crust. In Germany, the total effective dose from this natural radiation exposure is on average about 2,100 microsievert per year. Depending on the whereabouts, the actual value varies between about 1000 and 6000 microsievert per year. A flight from Frankfurt to New York and back leads to an average effective dose of about 100 microsievert. Through such a transatlantic trip the mean annual radiation exposure thus increases by about five percent.

For casual flyers - and this applies to most of the holiday flyers - the additional radiation exposure due to flying is very low and harmless regarding health, the same applies to pregnant women and young children. In particular when flying long routes on the northern pole routes, pilots, flight attendants or business "frequent flyers" can receive radiation doses which can by all means be compared with dose levels in occupational groups using ionising radiation or handling radioactive sources. Since August 2003, the new Radiation Protection Ordinance therefore provides for the same legally ensured radiation protection monitoring for flight attendants as for all other occupationally exposed persons. This monitoring is carried out by the Radiation Protection Register in co-operation with the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Office of Civil Aviation).

Many people are discomfited by the term "radioactivity". The ionising radiation emitted by radioactive substances is often perceived as being threatening, independently of its level and origin. One often forgets that each human being on earth is exposed to ionising radiation in a natural way. Nobody can avoid it. The cause for this are radiation sources which have been generated and exist in nature independently of man.

The total natural radiation exposure in Germany is on average 2.1 millisievert per year (effective dose). Depending on the place of residence, dietary and life habits, it sometimes reaches 1 to 10 millisievert.

Natural radiation exposure is composed of internal and external components. Via inhaled air and nutrition, human beings have always absorbed natural radioactive substances into the body. The inhalation of the radioactive noble gas radon with its decay products results in a radiation exposure of 1.1 millisievert per year on average. Natural radionuclides of the radioactive decay chains of thorium and uranium and potassium-40 are taken up via the food, which adds on average 0.3 millisievert annually. These causes of internal radiation exposure form the major part of natural radiation exposure.

External radiation exposure is about one third of the total natural radiation exposure - approximately 0.7 millisievert per year. About half of it is cosmic radiation, which reaches the earth from the sun and the depths of the universe and mainly consists of energy-rich particles and of gamma radiation. On its way through the atmosphere, cosmic radiation is partially absorbed. Its intensity thus depends on the altitude. It is lowest at sea level and increases with the altitude of a site. On the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, it is four times higher than on the coast.

Terrestrial radiation is also part of external radiation exposure. It originates from natural radioactive substances which exist in the soils and rock layers of the earth's crust in different concentrations and with regional differences. Rocks and earth again are important raw materials for mineral building materials such as bricks and concrete. The radionuclides contained therein pass over to the building materials and thus also contribute to external radiation exposure for people staying in buildings.

Today, apart from natural radiation exposure, ionising radiation from medical and technical applications affects man as well. The mean effective dose of the so-called man-made radiation exposure is about 2.0 millisievert per year in Germany.

Radon is a natural radioactive noble gas, which is odourless and colourless. It is generated wherever its mother nuclide radium exists, e. g. in the soil and in building materials. Through radioactive decay, radium is converted into radon, from which eventually stable lead is generated, via a number of equally radioactive interim products. From the radiation protection point of view, radon-222 originating from radium-226 is of particular interest. Due to its half-life of only 3.8 days it can concentrate far more in breathing air and lead to higher radiation exposures, compared to radon-220 with a half-life of only 56 s.

Radon concentrations in buildings are not constant but vary considerably with time. They depend on how the room is used, on the weather and on individual ventilation habits. Within 24 hours, the highest levels are measured in the late night until early morning. To determine representative radon concentrations in rooms, measurements should therefore be carried out over periods of several months, if possible over a whole year.

In Germany, the mean radon concentration in dwellings is about 50 Becquerel per cubic metre (Bq/m3). There are areas where enhanced radon concentrations are measured in buildings with exceptional frequency, most of which are caused geologically but can also be caused by mining or mining relics. In such areas more than 10,000 Bq/m3 are measured in single cases.

The gaseous radon is generated in the solid particles of rocks, soils and building materials. From there part of the radon disperses via pores and gaps in direction of the material surfaces and is eventually released into the breathing air. Since the radium concentration varies in the single rocks, the geological conditions influence very strongly the radon concentration in the soil, in the free atmosphere and in buildings.

In temperate zones, the radon concentration in buildings is on average three to four times higher than in the open air. Since people spend additionally on average 80 % of their time in buildings, about half of the natural radiation exposure of the population in Germany can be ascribed to the inhalation of radon and its radioactive decay products in buildings.

The main cause for enhanced radon concentrations in buildings is not so much the release of radon from the building materials but mainly from the building ground. This has been documented by many thousand measurements. The amount of radon from the soil which enters buildings depends on both the permeability of the building ground and the density of the building to radon.

Houses built more recently are in most cases better sealed to the ground. Therefore it is less possible for the radon to enter buildings than this is the case for older buildings, not all of which are provided with a base plate or other radon-repressive material layers to the building ground. Weak points can be especially unfavourable, e. g. cracks in walls and in the base plate as well as grommets.

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety have jointly published a Radon Manual for Germany. It summarises the current state of knowledge regarding radiation exposure of the general public due to radon and its decay products in buildings and the possibilities to limit or avoid exposure. Apart from useful information on the investigation of the radon situation in buildings, findings are provided about the ways how high radon exposures can develop and about possibilities to avoid or reduce them by construction or ventilation measures in new buildings and during the remediation of buildings with enhanced radon concentrations.

The manual mainly appeals to construction experts who, with their expertise and the practical remarks given in this manual, can make an important contribution to avoiding or reducing enhanced radiation exposures of the general public due to radon in buildings by taking into account simple constructional measures. Additionally, the manual is of interest to municipal local authorities, house owners, building and real estate administrations, measuring institutions active in the field of environmental protection and engineering companies as well as environmental physicians.

The Radon Manual for Germany is a loose-leaf collection. It is updated by exchanging and supplementing the relevant pages. It can be ordered at

Wirtschaftsverlag NW
Verlag für neue Wissenschaft GmbH
Bürgermeister-Smidt-Straße 74-76
Postfach 10 11 10
27568 Bremerhaven
Tel: 0471/945 44-0
Fax: 0471/945 44-77
Internet: www.nw-verlag.de
Email: info@nw-verlag.de.

Further information material is provided by BfS in the subject area Radon. Some editions of the series "Infoblätter" also deal with the topic radon.

To detect consequences of nuclear accidents or catastrophes at an early stage, the IMIS measuring system was established in Germany after the Chernobyl reactor accident. The Precautionary Radiation Protection Act, which was passed by the Bundestag in 1986 and has meanwhile been amended, formed the legal basis for the establishment of this system. IMIS is short for "Integrated Measuring and Information System of Environmental Radioactivity".

Nation-wide measuring networks have been integrated in this system and monitor all over the country and continuously the most important migration paths for released radionuclides: air, soil, water, food and feedstuffs.

IMIS is built up in three levels: data collection, data processing, decision-making. By permanent measurements it enables the quick and reliable collection and evaluation of significant changes in environmental radioactivity. In a radiological emergency IMIS can collect this data every two hours and thus provides the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) with the bases for making decisions about efficient action. BMU gives recommendations to the general public regarding modes of behaviour relating to precautionary health protection and decides, if required in co-ordination with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, if and which measures become necessary. It informs parliament and population in due time according to the development of the situation and informs the international organisations correspondingly.

Normally, the general public is provided daily with information on the internet-pages of BfS (IMIS). Parliament is usually informed in writing once a year within the scope of a report "Environmental Radioactivity and Radiation Exposure".

Radioactive substances and ionising radiation are applied in manifold ways, in medicine, industry and agriculture, in environmental protection, in energy generation and in the field of research. Each application can add man-made radiation exposure to the already existing natural radiation exposure or can increase the probability that man-made radiation exposure will occur (e. g. in the case of sealed sources). Radiation protection measures have the objective to ensure protection of man against the harmful effects of ionising radiation without confining more than necessary those applications which are the cause for radiation exposure.

The radiation protection system is based on the following general principles:

Each application of a radioactive substance or of ionising radiation or the operation of each facility causing radiation exposure must be justified. This means that the application or operation of the facility must result in a benefit to the individual or the society which cannot be achieved otherwise which exceeds the radiological risk.

Radiation protection optimisation is a source-related process aiming at keeping the magnitude of individual exposures, the number of persons exposed and the likelihood of incurring exposures as low as reasonably achievable, even below dose constraints, taking into account social and economic factors. That applies to all types of exposure situations.

The ALARA principle is of great value to implementing radiation protection optimisation into practice. The term ALARA is an acronym for „ As Low As Reasonably Achievable“. Basically, the ALARA principle demands that the radiation exposure of man and environment associated with the application of ionising radiation (even below limits) be kept as low as can be achieved by reasonable means.

The effectiveness of the radiation protection measures is ensured by controlling compliance with established dose limit values.

Dose limit values are often misinterpreted as a dividing line between "dangerous" and "harmless" radiation exposure.

Exceeding the limit value means that, in case of continuing exposure, this exposure is associated with a radiological risk for the individual which cannot be accepted any more under "normal" circumstances. Below the dose limit values, radiation protection is based on the hypothesis that a low radiological risk exists. According to the ALARA principle, it is therefore not sufficient just to comply with the dose limit. All reasonable and expedient measures should be taken to keep radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable below the dose limit. In practice, the actual annual doses of occupationally exposed persons are therefore far below the limit values.

The colour of gemstones or semi-precious stones can be modified or intensified by ionising radiation. In nature this occurs through the radiation of natural radionuclides in the earth. This effect can also be achieved artificially by irradiating the stones. In most cases topaz stones are irradiated which results in a characteristic blue colour. Other stones whose colour is altered through irradiation are e. g. ruby and sapphire, aquamarine, tourmaline and diamonds.

In general gemstones are irradiated with electron or gamma radiation. In doing this, no activity whatsoever is generated in the stones: wearing such stones is harmless. Rarely, gemstones are irradiated with neutrons since this is much more complicated. In doing so, various radionuclides are produced in the stones which emit radiation themselves. In this case radiation intensity will decrease with time. Typical inclusions of various elements in the gemstones may result in different irradiation intensities and decay times. If such jewellery is worn permanently, radiation effects can occur on limited parts of the skin. However, since the skin is relatively insensitive to radiation, compared with other organs of the body, the health risk can be classified as low in these cases, too.

For general reasons, however, it is not recommended to wear gemstones irradiated with neutrons, since a radiation protection principle states that each unnecessary, unjustified radiation exposure must be avoided. The generation of radioactive gemstones is considered unnecessary and unjustified. When purchasing such gemstones everybody should therefore make sure that they are not radioactive.

Based on available dose assessments, there are no objections from the radiation protection point of view to sending people to Russia, Belarus or to the Ukraine, not even for longer periods.

One has to observe, however, that stronger contaminated areas - e. g. in the area around Chernobyl, near Pripyat or Gomel - have meanwhile been marked especially. They have been closed off and are not accessible to the public.

Measurements of food, which had already been carried out by BfS in 1990 on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev, did not show significantly enhanced caesium-137 contamination. Enhanced caesium-137 activities are to be expected in wild-growing berries, mushrooms and game and in products grown by self-supporters in the affected suburban area only.

Incorporation measurements were carried out in persons from Germany who had worked in different areas around Chernobyl. They did not indicate an enhanced intake of caesium-137 with food.

Higher activities of caesium-137 or strontium-90 can occur in with mushrooms, wild berries, fish and game. In case of longer stays in the CIS, it should therefore be avoided as a precautionary measure to consume mushrooms, berries, fresh water fish and game. Primary health care is generally ensured in the CIS states. In cities such as Kiev and Moscow there are specialised hospitals available.

Kiev and Minsk are not among the regions with major impact from the Chernobyl reactor accident. According to the data available to BfS, the contamination due to caesium-137 in Kiev and its vicinity (within a radius of about 50 km) can be compared with that of some areas of Southern Germany. Moscow has virtually not been affected by the Chernobyl reactor accident.

The STS has about the same size as Saxony or Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany or Wales in the UK. Between 1949 and 1963, above ground nuclear weapons tests were carried out on the test site, followed by underground tests until 1989. Apart from that, there are several nuclear reactors on the premises.

In the regions to the north, east and south of the STS, which had been affected most by the above ground nuclear weapons testing, no elevated radiation exposure is detected today. In a comprehensive international survey programme part of which was co-ordinated by IAEA, it was also shown that no radioactive contamination can be detected in well waters from the strongly affected villages (such as Dolon and Sarzhal). In the large cities (Semipalatinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan and Rubtsovsk in the Russian Federation) there is no enhanced radiation exposure either. Due to the performed dose assessment there are no objections against people travelling into this area, not even for longer periods of time.

On the test site itself, however, there are areas where, for precautionary reasons, one should avoid staying for longer periods of time. This refers in particular to the so-called "Atomic Lake" at the eastern edge of the nuclear weapons test site. Whole-body measurements in persons having visited the city of Kurchatov or other areas on the test site, did not indicate enhanced uptake of radioactive substances. On parts of the test site itself, agriculture, mainly animal husbandry, is carried out again.

When visiting the test site it is recommended to gather in advance detailed information about the radiological situation from the competent authorities in the city of Kurchatov. BfS points out that according to present knowledge it is only allowed to visit the test site with the approval of the competent authorities in Kurchatov.

In the city of Ozyersk - at about a distance of 100 km from both Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk - Soviet nuclear weapons were produced since 1948. Radioactive liquid waste was discharged from the "Mayak" nuclear factory into the Techa river resulting in a contamination of the region near Kyshtym along the river.

Serious accidents added to the situation: In September 1957 a storage tank for high-level radioactive waste solutions exploded, leading to additional contamination. The narrow, long-stretched contamination pattern affected the city of Kyshtym in north-east direction after which the accident is named.

In summer 1967 the weather was very dry; Lake Karachay therefore ran dry. Liquid intermediate-level radioactive waste had been discharged into this lake. Radioactive substances from the soil sediments of the lake were resuspended by the wind and likewise contaminated an area around Lake Karachay.

In 1992, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the "State Committee for the Removal of Consequences from Chernobyl and Other Radiological Contamination" in Moscow concluded a contract about supporting measures. Thereupon, several comprehensive measuring campaigns were performed in the southern Ural Mountains, focussing in particular on whole-body measurements in the affected population and radio-ecological investigations in the areas along River Techa, which had been contaminated over many years.

People travelling in this area should observe that stronger contaminated areas of the region have meanwhile been marked, closed off and are thus not accessible to the public.

The cities of Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk and their closer vicinity are not immediately affected. Measurements of the gamma dose rate carried out in summer 1992 near Sinara (between Kyshtym and Yekaterinburg) showed values between 0.08 and 0.10 microsievert per hour; that corresponds to typical values in Germany. Measurements of food samples (milk, potatoes, drinking water) from the Kyshtym region indicate that additional dose contributions are not expected - not even in case of stays lasting several months. However, in the case of fish from the water into which the high-level radioactive waste solutions were discharged, higher strontium-90 and caesium-137 values can occur. Higher caesium values can also occur in wild growing mushrooms and berries and in game.

Based on available dose assessment there are no objections to people travelling in this area, not even for longer periods.

From the radiation point of view there are no reservations against accommodating children from the area of Chernobyl, not even in case of longer stays. No dangerous radiation is emitted by the children coming as guests to Germany from the higher-contaminated areas in the vicinity of Chernobyl. Objects brought along are safe, too.