The Swiss emergency organization for nuclear and chemical accidents

History, basic concepts, organization and means of the Swiss Emergency Organization are described and some specific problems and solutions are discussed. Preference is assigned to organizations, structures and means already in existence. The frame for coordination of the efforts is given by the principal arrangements of the total defense. The most important installation is a permanent Monitoring Center operating 24 hours a day attached to the national weather service. The concept of the emergency organization is based on an analysis of the possible types of events, the sequences of phases of an accident, the dominant character of an incident, the protection objectives and the possible or available preventive and protective measures. The systematic analysis of these factors shows clearly in which cases the federal emergency organization has to operate and which events can be handled with the normal means of the civil authorities. Special topics such as the concept of dose limits, vertical evacuation to civil defense shelters or cellars and the project for an automatic nation-wide meteorological and radiological monitoring network are presented. (author)