Measures of caution undertaken in Germany in case of accident or incidents susceptible to bear upon humans and environment due to a radioactivity release

After Chernobyl accident a low concerning the population protection against the effects of ionizing radiation has been promulgated in Germany (Strahlenschutzvorsorgegesetz) in order to unify on a federal scale the radiation protection legislation. A Land can make recommendations and actuate measures only when radioactivity levels concern zones placed under its jurisdiction. Special stipulations concerning the roles of Land and Federal Government are specified for the case of severe accidents at nuclear power plants followed by catastrophic consequences in the nearby areas. The measures and intervention thresholds are based on the publication No. 40 of CIPR. These actions are contained in a catalogue currently under revision. All the measures indicated aim at avoiding any contamination in the agricultural sector and bock or diminish as much as possible the radionuclide transfer in food stuffs and forages. A table is presented indicating the limit doses relative to whole body, thyroid or lung exposure requiring accordingly sealing of dwelling houses, iodine addition or population evacuation. Also doses indicating renouncement to direct use of the food stuffs and reinstalling the population previously relocated are presented. Finally two tables are given, one containing caution measures of protection before radioactive cloud passage and the other the threshold values of the atmospheric concentration for cereal, milk, fruit and vegetable storages corresponding to the radionuclides 131I, 137Cs and 90Sr