Federal Office for Radiation Protection and Federal Police to assess Environmental Radioactivity in Saxony and Thuringia

From 7 to 9 October 2014, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and the Federal Police (BPOL) will use two liaison helicopters to perform environmental radioactivity measurements in Saxony and Thuringia. These measurements are part of regular joint exercises on the national and international level held by BfS and BPOL.

This year the helicopters will fly over areas in the vicinity of the following municipalities:

• Seelingstädt,
• Zwickau,
• Lengenfeld,
• Schneeberg,
• Freital and
• Johanngeorgenstadt.

These areas will be mapped under radiological aspects in order to document progress in the redevelopment of former uranium mine dumps. BfS and BPOL previously examined these areas in the years 1997, 2003 and 2010.

On 9 October the helicopters will also examine the premises of the Rossendorf exploration site. A test flight near Seelingstädt is scheduled for 6 October. The helicopters will be flying over these territories between 9 am and 6 pm daily in the period cited above. They will fly at a height of 100 m in order to enable the measurements.

Annual measurement exercises

Airborne radioactivity measurements, i.e. so-called aero gamma spectrometry, makes it possible to quickly assess the radioactive contamination of large or hard-to-access areas. In the case of a nuclear accident, for instance, the data gained from helicopter measurements is a valuable basis for the emergency response authorities of the federal states who will use this data to decide on the necessary protection measures.

Such annual measurement exercises are performed since more than 20 years in order to ensure that the aero gamma spectrometry equipment is ready for use at all times. The exercise also serves to consolidate and harmonise cooperation between the Federal Police members and the scientific-technical staff of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection.

Legal foundations

Pursuant to the Precautionary Radiation Protection Act, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection is responsible for quick airborne radioactivity measurements of the ground surface over large areas. The Act was passed after the Chernobyl reactor accident in order to keep the radiation exposure to the population as low as possible in case of incidents involving considerable radiological consequences. For the implementation of this task, the Federal Office thus holds four measuring systems at the sites of Munich and Berlin available, which can be installed in Federal Police helicopters within one hour and then be transferred to an area to be examined.