Minister Lemke visits BfS in Salzgitter

BfS President Paulini welcomes Federal Minister Lemke to BfS in Salzgitter on 3 February 2022

On 3 February, Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection, and Inge Paulini, President of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), met for an exchange at the BfS in Salzgitter. In addition to discussions about the common priorities for the next four years, the programme included practical demonstrations of the work of the BfS.

Federal Minister Lemke also used her inaugural visit to the BfS headquarters to exchange views with BfS employees, most of whom participated remotely via video transmission because of the corona situation. The Minister was accompanied by Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Bettina Hoffmann.

Radiation protection has a high priority for consumer protection

"Radiation protection is one of the founding tasks of the Federal Environment Ministry and is an important task for society even after the nuclear phase-out: whether in medicine, natural radioactivity, electromagnetic fields, or protection against UV radiation. Research and well-founded information for the population are indispensable. This is what the BfS stands for. I am glad that we have a strong partner at our side in the BfS", says Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection

Taking radiation protection into account in technical developments

"Radiation is everywhere, and radiation protection is part of our future. Radiation protection must be considered from the beginning of technical developments. This concerns the increased use of mobile data transmission in the course of digitalisation, new developments in medicine, and the application of new lasers in materials processing. It is also our goal to support consumers through information and education so that they will be able to protect themselves against environmental radiation such as ultraviolet radiation from the sun or the radioactive gas radon", says Inge Paulini, President of the BfS.