Federal Coordinating Offices for the monitoring of radioactive substances in the environment

Monitoring of the exposure of man and the environment to radioactivity was required as a result of the radioactive fallout from the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s. On account of the commitments under Article 35 of the EURATOM Treaty of 1957 and the large-scale industrial use of nuclear energy for energy production, the monitoring was extended and legally regulated.

Environmental radioactivity is monitored by the states (Bundesländer) and by federal institutions.

Federal Coordinating Offices: Federal institutions

As the same time as the start of official monitoring, Federal Coordinating Offices were established being responsible for the monitoring of certain environmental media. These Coordinating Offices have been installed at

• The Federal Office for Radiation Protection,
• The German Meteorological Service,
• The Federal Institute of Hydrology,
• The Max-Rubner-Institute,
• The Federal Office for Navigation and Hydrography,
• The Thünen-Institute.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The tasks of the Federal Coordinating Offices are laid down in the Radiation Protection Law (StrlSchG) and in the Radiation Protection Ordinance (StrlSchV).

They comprise, among others:

• Review of data measured in the context of environmental monitoring (AVV-IMIS) pursuant to the StrlSchG and in the context of emission and immission monitoring (REI) pursuant to the StrlSchV (data are produced by the official monitoring institutions of the states (Bundesländer), federal institutions as well as independent monitoring institutions for the monitoring of nuclear facilities and their operators),
• Summary and documentation of the data from environmental monitoring as well as of emission and immission monitoring,
• Review, further development and documentation of sampling and analysis methods (measurement procedures),
• Intercomparison exercises for external quality assurance,
• Advice to the federal and state ministries on technical issues.

The BfS acts as Coordinating Office in the following areas:

Quality assurance of measurement results through the Federal Coordinating Offices

The Federal Coordinating Offices check the plausibility of the measurement results and ensure for the quality of the data. Correct measurement results are a prerequisite in order to properly assess possible radiological consequences in case of a nuclear event and to take adequate measures for the protection of the population.

The Coordinating Offices

• develop the sampling and analysis methods to be applied,
• check the plausibility of the data,
• carry out quality assurance measures,
• process the available data, and
• report to decision-making authorities.

Laboratory intercomparisons as external quality control

On a regular basis, the Coordinating Offices organise interlaboratory comparisons for external quality control. For this purpose, the responsible Coordinating Office sends standardised samples of known composition to collaborating institutions. The samples are analysed by the participants using their individual methods.

Results: Comparison provides information about quality of analysis and evaluation methods

In expert discussions and workshops, the methods and processes applied as well as the results of interlaboratory comparisons are discussed with the participants. If required, the respective Coordinating Office may support participating institutions in the introduction of new measurement or analysis methods.

International cooperation

The cooperation of the BfS in international working groups serves

• to exchange experiences,
• to harmonise analysis and measuring methods in an international context,
• to ensure the quality of the available data.

In the case of the Fukushima accident, international cooperation has highlighted the importance of quality-assured data at the international level. With the help of the international monitoring network of the CTBTO, both the transport of the radioactivity released and its reduction during distribution in the atmosphere could be observed. As a consequence, decision-makers got reliable prognoses of radiological impacts in their country early on – an important prerequisite to make decisions about possible national safeguard measures.