Radiation Protection Register

The Radiation Protection Register is a central dose register for the surveillance of occupational radiation exposure. It has the task to control continuously the keeping of the body dose limits of all occupationally exposed persons in Germany and to register issued radiation passbooks for itinerant workers. The Radiation Protection Register contributes to the international development of the occupational radiation protection as to the state of science and technology and to the harmonization of occupational radiation protection monitoring in Europe.

In Germany, the principles of occupational radiation protection are stipulated by the Atomic Energy Act (AtG), the Radiation Protection Ordinance (StrlSchV), and the X-ray Ordinance (RöV). The responsibility in the field of monitoring occupational radiation exposure lies with the sixteen Federal States and their Federal State administrations, which act on behalf of the Federal Government (Bundesauftragsverwaltung).

Data recorded by the Radiation Protection Register

As a consequence of this decentralized allocation of responsibilities, the monitoring of occupational radiation protection is split up to many regional institutions and state authorities: dosimetric services are appointed by the competent state authorities to monitor the body doses of radiation workers from external radiation exposure or from internal exposure following a radionuclide incorporation. These dose assessments as well as notional doses stipulated by local supervisory authorities or additional relevant information on dose limit control are continuously reported to the Radiation Protection Register. Here, the monitoring results are centrally assembled for each monitored person and evaluated. The Radiation Protection Register accounts also for the central recording of the radiation passbooks issued by the regional registration authorities of the Federal States.

Monitoring of aircraft crews

Since August 2003, the new Radiation Protection Ordinance provides official dose monitoring also for aircraft crews. Route doses are calculated with approved dose calculation programs and monthly accumulated for the aircraft crews. The Radiation Protection Register performs the monitoring in collaboration with the Federal Office for Civil Aviation (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt).

A detailed annual report of the Radiation Protection Register about occupational radiation exposure is available at DORIS in German Language including an English summary.