Fifty years of radioactivity monitoring in Switzerland

In Switzerland the systematic monitoring of radioactivity began in 1956 with the appointment of the National Commission for Radioactivity Monitoring (Eidgenoessische Kommission zur Ueberwachung der Radioaktivitaet - KUER) at the request of professor Paul Huber of Basel University. This was motivated by concerns about the continuous rise in environmental radioactivity levels in the northern hemisphere resulting from the nuclear arms tests carried out by the superpowers. From this time on a nationwide monitoring network was established in Switzerland, as in many other countries. Initially designed only for monitoring of air and precipitation, it was later extended to permit measurements on waters, soil, grass, milk and other foods and even determination of radionuclide levels in the human body