Radiation protection: important contribution to your safety

The defence against nuclear hazards at work

Radioactive substances are used in various applications for the common benefit. For example, for the irradiation of cancer tumours or for materials testing in industry. However, despite numerous security precautions, illegal or dangerous situations continue to arise because of theft, illegal trade, or targeted misuse.

In such cases, professional state radiation protection is an essential component of hazard prevention. This was pointed out by Stefan Tidow, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), and Inge Paulini, President of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), at an expert event organised by the BfS in Berlin on cooperation between authorities in hazardous biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear situations.

Radiation protection is an important safety task

"Radiation protection is about not only the safety of nuclear facilities or of patients in medical applications. Professional and well-equipped radiation protection are also essential for the internal security of Germany. The Federal Environment Ministry takes this task quite seriously. With the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, it has an experienced and qualified specialist authority that supports the state emergency response agencies with a pool of specialists for defence against nuclear hazards when needed", says State Secretary Tidow.

BfS experts support federal and state authorities

"As the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, we have long assumed responsibility for managing radiological threat situations with our defence against nuclear hazards. In the past, this was done in close cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police, and since June 2021, as a partner in the UnterstützungsverBund CBRN. However, our experts also become active in support of other federal and state authorities as well as in the context of international cooperation", says BfS President Paulini.

UnterstützungsverBund CBRN

In the UnterstützungsverBund CBRN, the Federal Government has pooled its expertise to deal with police operations involving chemical (C), biological (B), radiological (R), and nuclear (N) hazards or combinations thereof.

Remote-controlled tracked vehicle for the identification of radioactive materials

Special forces from the Federal Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, the Robert Koch Institute, the Bundeswehr Research Institute for Protective Technologies and CBRN Protection, and the CBRN Defence Command of the German Armed Forces work together under the uniform coordination of the Federal Police.
In the case of threats posed by chemical or biological substances or radioactive materials, the UnterstützungsverBund CBRN supplements the capacities and capabilities of the federal and state security authorities upon request.

The contribution of the BfS to the UnterstützungsverBund

The BfS makes the expertise of its nuclear-specific emergency response available to the network. In an emergency, the BfS assesses the radiological situation and advises the operational command on the course of action as well as on radiation protection issues. The BfS supports the screening, detection, and identification of radioactive materials with personnel and measurement technology and ensures the radiation protection of the emergency forces.