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 **Ger ...

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 Lower ...

, with branch offices in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

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 r ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

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 ...

Oberschleißheim Oberschleißheim () is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Munich (district), district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich (centre). As of 2005 it had a population of 11,467. Oberschleißheim is ...

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-Ecke ...

. 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 r ...

Schacht Asse II The Asse II mine (Schacht Asse II) is a former salt mine used as a deep geological repository for radioactive waste in the Asse Mountains of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany. History The Asse II mine was developed between 1906 and 1908 to a ...

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

Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (german: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz, ), abbreviated BMUV, is a German Cabinet, ca ...

(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 h ...

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.

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

History

Structure

Gamma dose rate network

See also

References

External links