Federal Office for Radiation Protection offers preventive measurements

Human senses cannot detect ionising radiation. So there is no natural awareness of any hazard to avoid. Humans therefore depend on reliable measurements to identify radiation-induced risks. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS) has all the required technical equipment on hand to serve this purpose.

To those who resided in the North of Japan, the BfS offers the possibility to find out whether they were exposed to radiation during their stay. "The BfS continuously analyses and evaluates the situation in Japan, and its potential impact on Germany. We have a wide range of measuring equipment available to provide for preventive examinations" underlined BfS President Wolfram König when he introduced the so-called "whole body counter" of the BfS in Berlin today. The data obtained will also enable conclusions to be drawn about the local situation.

Returnees from Japan do not create a health hazard for the general public in Germany in the BfS’s opinion. A potential intake of radioactivity would not endanger any other person such as family members either. External contamination can be removed by changing clothes and taking a shower. No alarming values have been obtained so far by the BfS for those returning from Japan. "However, increased values cannot be excluded, depending on the location. It is understandable that many people wish to find out the level of radiation to which they were exposed locally" Wolfram König continued.

The BfS has the scientific expertise to assess radiation exposure of individuals. As the Federal Coordinating Office on Incorporation Monitoring, the BfS monitors adherence to standards of measuring, data collection and evaluation procedures in Germany. In addition, the BfS operates measurement equipment for Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, based on contracts with these states. Measuring stations are operated at the BfS sites Berlin and Munich. 94 examinations of persons entering Germany from Japan have been reported to the BfS up to now. In about one third, marginal incorporations of radionuclides, primarily iodine-131 and tellurium/iodine-132, could be identified. The resulting radiation doses were low and insignificant in health terms.

On the whole, there are 20 so-called incorporation measurement laboratories in Germany. Apart from the BfS, the bodies responsible for the measurement laboratories are authorities, research centres, universities, hospitals and industry. These measurement laboratories are normally in charge of incorporation monitoring of occupationally exposed persons such as staff members in a nuclear power plant. However, they can also be involved in incorporation measurements in the general public in the event of radiological emergencies. A list of all measurement laboratories is available on the internet under www.bfs.de.

Background

The BfS operates additional systems to monitor and detect radiation in the environment and for radiation protection of humans. For example the measurement station Schauinsland also operated by the BfS is one of 80 stations worldwide entrusted to monitor the international nuclear weapons test ban treaty and is able to trace even lowest concentrations of radioactivity in the atmosphere. In addition the BfS is in charge of environmental monitoring in Germany with a total of about 1,800 measuring probes. The measured values of the site in Freiburg as well as of all 1,800 probes are available on the internet under www.bfs.de.