Concept for successful radon control

Successful radon control in buildings requires a complex approach relying not only on the skills and possibilities of civil engineers and civil engineering. Successful achievement requires the cooperation of many experts from other subject fields as well, as for instance measuring engineering or medicine. The data obtained by recent studies have given a new dimension to the problem of exposure to radon, both in terms of spatial distribution and concentrations. Average annual indoor radioactivity concentrations measured amount to 10.000 Bq/m3, and such an average value calls for new, efficient, and urgent remedial action. The problem can be tackled by the following aproach: comprehensive information of all persons affected directly or indirectly; establishment of a set of average values of radon concentration on the basis of reliable, measured data; pin-pointed selection of adequate and effective measures for improvement of houses; amendment of radiation protection principles applicable to radon radioactivity towards a further minimisation of the exposure of the population. (orig.)