Start of Asse health monitoring

The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) has started to review the radiation exposure to all former and current staff members of the Asse repository for radioactive waste. “The purpose of this health monitoring is to find out whether the cancer and leukaemia cases of former Asse staff members are associated with their occupational radiation exposure,” BfS spokesman Werner Nording said.

BfS as the new operator of Asse will collect, document, and evaluate all available dose measurements. With this information, BfS wants to provide support to all affected persons who want to have examined by the employer’s liability insurance associations whether they can claim benefits from legal accident insurance. Furthermore, BfS will use the monitoring to give better consideration to its responsibility as the new Asse operator, in particular with respect to the people currently working there.

BfS is going to screen all relevant data of Asse staff members having worked at Asse since the emplacement of radioactive waste started in 1967. This includes especially the results of the previous dose measurements and data on working hours underground. Likewise, data on radioactive contamination of the mine air and the mine itself will be evaluated. Additionally, random interviews will be carried out with individuals about previous working and radiation protection conditions. “It is our aim to get a good picture of the occupational radiation exposure to the staff,” the spokesman said. The health monitoring is being developed by strictly observing data protection and in close cooperation with the works council.

All staff members are included in the examination who worked underground for more than four weeks from 1967 until today or who have handled radioactive waste above ground in Asse II. The Asse health monitoring will probably be concluded by the end of 2010. The results will be submitted in a final report.

The Asse health monitoring is carried out by a BfS project group. The BfS experts working in the fields of occupational radiation exposure, the German Uranium Miners Study, and the evaluation of health risks will contribute their expertise to the project.