Measurements of airborne radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants and their quality control in the Federal Republic of Germany

Procedures have been established which govern monitoring and the detailed assessment by plant operators of gaseous radioactive releases from nuclear power plants. In presenting and describing the measuring techniques, the detection of specific radionuclides in gaseous effluents is of major importance. The description of measuring techniques is exemplified by results from emission measurements and the resulting radiation exposure to the public for the year 1983. Another main issue is the measuring program for quality control as performed by the Federal health Office for the control of balance (detailed assessment) measurements of radioactive emission in effluent air which are performed by facility operators. The measurements for the detailed assessment of radioactive emissions are supervised by an independent expert in a national standardized measuring program. This supervisory program is also discussed here. A detailed description of the routine measurement program, the comparative measurements during the starting phase of a nuclear power plant and the quality control by ''round-robin-tests'' is given.