The Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS) is the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The BfS was established in November 1989; the headquarters is located in
Salzgitter
Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Low ...
, with branch offices in
Berlin,
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
,
Freiburg,
Gorleben
Gorleben is a small municipality ('' Gemeinde'') in the Gartow region of the Lüchow-Dannenberg district in the far north-east of Lower Saxony, Germany, a region also known as the Wendland.
Gorleben was first recorded as a town by the rulers of D ...
,
Oberschleißheim and
Rendsburg
Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Eck ...
. It has 708 employees (including 305 scientific) and an annual budget of around 305 million Euro (2009). Since 2009 the BfS is also responsible for the storage site of
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...
,
Schacht Asse II.
History
Against the background of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986 and the so-called transnuclear scandal in 1987, the BfS was founded with the aim of re-bundling competencies and responsibilities in the field of radiation protection. The following organizational units were merged into the BfS:
* Department "Securing and Disposal of Radioactive Waste" (SE), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig
* Institute for Atmospheric Radioactivity (IAR), Federal Office for Civil Protection, Freiburg
* Institute for Radiation Hygiene (ISH), Federal Health Office, Neuherberg near Munich
* Parts of the Society for Reactor Safety (GRS) mbH, Cologne/Munich
With reunification, parts of the State Office for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection of the former GDR were added after a short time.
In 1990, the BfS took over the operational management of the repository for radioactive waste from the former GDR in Morsleben. In the years that followed, it expanded the local dose rate (ODL) measurement network for monitoring environmental radioactivity.
Between 2001 and 2003, the BfS issued the first permits for the construction of decentralized interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel at the sites of German nuclear power plants. In 2009, the operation and immediate decommissioning of the Asse mine was transferred to the BfS. After comparing options, it was decided to salvage the waste from the mine.
The new start in the search for a repository for high-level radioactive waste also resulted in a restructuring of the authorities involved in 2016. Tasks in the area of disposal, storage and transport of radioactive waste and nuclear safety, for which the BfS was responsible, were assigned to transferred to the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), on the other hand to the Federal Society for Disposal (BGE). Among other things, BASE has also taken over the task of keeping statistics on reportable events from the BfS. With the reorganization, the competencies of the BfS are concentrated on the state tasks of radiation protection, for example in the area of nuclear emergency protection, medical research, mobile communications, UV protection or the measuring networks for radioactivity in the environment.
Structure
The BfS is supervised by the
(BMU).
The BfS has four sub-departments.
* ''Fachbereich SK – Sicherheit in der Kerntechnik'' – Department for Safety in Nuclear Engineering
* ''Fachbereich SE – Sicherheit nuklearer Entsorgung'' – Department for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal
* ''Fachbereich SG – Strahlenschutz und Gesundheit'' – Department for Radiation and Health
* ''Fachbereich SW – Strahlenschutz und Umwelt'' – Department for Radiation and the Environment
Gamma dose rate network
The BfS operates a gamma dose rate measurement network with about 1800 probes, uniformly distributed over Germany. The automatically working systems compare the actual level of radiation with the long term mean and sends an alert to the data centers immediately, if the radiation exceeds the threshold value. This network is a part of the German early
warning system
Warning system is any system of biological or technical nature deployed by an individual or group to inform of a future danger. Its purpose is to enable the deployer of the warning system to prepare for the danger and act accordingly to mitigat ...
, in case of a nuclear accident. Hardware of data logger and probes as well as software are developed in-house by the BfS. On the mountain
Schauinsland
The Schauinsland (literally "look-into-the-country"; near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a mountain in the Black Forest with an elevation of 1,284 m (4,213 ft) above sea level. It is a popular destination for day trips. Due to the ...
the BfS operates an international measurement station for gamma dose rate probe calibration and long term tests.
Another important task of the BfS is research in the areas of radiation protection and radiation protection precautions. The BfS provides technical and scientific support to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in the areas mentioned.
Forschungstätigkeit am BfS
bfs.de, retrieved 31 December 2015.
See also
*Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nation ...
* Schacht Asse II
*Schacht Konrad
The pit Konrad (Schacht Konrad) is a former iron ore mine proposed as a deep geological repository for medium- and low level radioactive waste in the city Salzgitter in the Metropolitan region Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg in southea ...
*Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben
The Morsleben Radioactive Waste Repository (German: Endlager für radioaktive Abfälle Morsleben-ERAM) is a deep geological repository for radioactive waste in the Bartensleben rock salt mine in Morsleben, Börde District, in the federal state ...
*Nuclear safety
Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the ...
References
External links
*
Data from the German gamma dose rate network with about 1800 probes (German only)
BfS – Gamma dose rate network data logger (full working demo installation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundesamt Fur Strahlenschutz
Environment of Germany
Nuclear organizations
Salzgitter
1989 establishments in Germany
Organizations established in 1989
Organisations based in Lower Saxony
Radiation protection organizations