Occupational radiation exposure in Germany in 2006. Report of the radiation protection register

In Germany, persons occupationally exposed to radiation are monitored by several official dosimetric services who transmit their records about individual radiation doses to the Radiation Protection Register of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). The number of dose recordings reported to the Radiation Protection Register has annually increased to more than three million records per year and thus accumulated to more than 34 million dose records at the end of 2006. The purpose of the Radiation Protection Register is to supervise the keeping of the dose limits by each radiation worker and to monitor the compliance with the radiation protection principle ''optimisation'' by performing detailed annual statistical analyses of the monitored persons and their radiation exposure. Amongst others, the annual report of the Radiation Protection Register provides information about status and development of occupational radiation exposure in Germany. In 2006, about 312,000 workers were monitored with dosimeters for occupational radiation exposure. About 18 % of the monitored persons received a measurable personal dose. The average annual dose of these exposed workers was 0.75 mSv. This value is the lowest average annual dose since dose monitoring for occupational worker was introduced. It remains below the dose limit of 1 mSv for the general public and amounts only 4 % of the annual dose limit of 20 mSv for radiation workers. Since 2003 aircraft crew personnel is subject to dose monitoring if it is employed in accordance with the German employment act and likely to receive an effective dose of at least 1 mSv per year from cosmic radiation during flight operation. This accounts for about 33.000 pilots and flight attendants. 45 airlines report the monthly accumulated dose values of their personnel via the Federal Office for Civil Aviation (''Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, LBA'') to the BfS. The collective dose of the aircraft crew personnel is 71 Person-Sv and thus significantly higher than the total collective dose of all workers at terrestrial work places (41 Person-Sv). The annual average dose of aircraft crew personnel was 2.2 mSv. Workers who execute tasks in foreign radiation controlled areas, (so called ''outside-workers'' who e.g. perform maintenance work in different nuclear power plants) must have a valid radiation passport. In 2006, about 62,000 outside-workers had a valid radiation passport. The average annual dose of exposed outside-workers was 1.55 mSv and thus twice as high as the average dose of all radiation exposed persons. Two per thousand owner of radiation passports possessed more than one valid radiation passport, after several passports had been impermissible issued to them