Emergency
According to pragraphn 5 section 26 of the Radiation Protection Act (Strahlenschutzgesetz), a radiological emergency is an event in which ionising radiation can result in significant adverse effects on humans, the environment or property.
The Radiation Protection Act draws a distinction between:
- supra-regional emergencies, whose adverse effects are expected to extend across multiple federal states and/or which are caused by events abroad
- regional emergencies, whose adverse effects are essentially limited to the federal state in which they take place
- local emergencies, whose adverse effects are essentially limited to the local area.
It is not a radiological emergency if events that occur as part of planned activities can be dealt with by protective measures that have already been taken into account and regulated in advance of these planned activities – for example during the licensing of a nuclear facility. Corresponding rules and regulations can be found in the Radiation Protection Act (e.g. section 72) and the Radiation Protection Ordinance (Strahlenschutzverordnung, section 105 onwards).