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Ionising radiation

Environmental Radioactivity - Medicine - Occupational Radiation Protection - Nuclear Hazards Defence

Ionisierende Strahlung

Nuclear accident management

If a nuclear facility in Germany or neighboring countries causes an accident, radiological emergency protection is activated to protect the population.

Nuclear emergency preparedness und response

In the event of an accident involving a nuclear plant in Germany or in a neighboring country, measures will be taken to protect the population and the environment.

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Contamination Probe

In the event of an emergency

In order to be able to take appropriate protective measures in the event of an emergency, the contamination (pollution) of the environment has to be forecast, measured and the resulting radiation exposure of the population has to be ascertained.

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Handheld measuring device used to determine the ambient dose rate in front of the Chernobyl reactor. The display shows a value of 3.04 microsievert per hour.

Nuclear accidents

In the history of the civil utilisation of nuclear energy there have also been accidents in nuclear facilities. The causes of the accidents have very much differed. Nuclear accidents can, for example, be caused by the failure of technical components, by human error or by natural disasters. As a result of a nuclear accident a significant level of radioactive substances is released. This can effect health and environment.

The most known nuclear accidents leading to massive releases of radioactive substances into the environment occurred in Chernobyl/Ukraine in 1986 and in Fukushima/Japan in 2011.

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Tasks of the Federal Government, the States and operators

Operators are responsible for safety in the nuclear power stations they operate. If an accident occurs, German federal authorities and states work closely together with operators – as in the case of any possible radiological emergency – to protect the public in the best possible way from any radiological consequences.

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One-hand portable probe for mobile measurements

Exercises for emergency situations

For the event of an accident in a nuclear facility in Germany or neighbouring countries, the radiological emergency preparedness system will be activated immediately to protect the population against ionising radiation. To be able to take the appropriate protective measures in an emergency, the contamination of the environment must be measured and assessed quickly and reliably and the resulting radiation exposure for the local people has to be determined. Exercises are performed by employees of the BfS to assure proper operation of the process under such conditions.

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NGA exercise RASPAD

Defence against nuclear hazards

In Germany, the federal states ("Bundesländer") are responsible for the defence against hazards. The BfS can support other civil authorities, provided that radiological dangers are present. If the civil authorities responding to an event involving radioactive material out of regulatory control require support, the BfS can offer help. The working group for the defence against nuclear hazards (NGA) has the task of preparing the entire BfS for just such requests.

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