Monitoring of radioactive discharges from nuclear power plants

Small amounts of radioactive substances are released into the environment with gaseous and liquid effluents from nuclear plants during normal operation. This activity contributes to the radiation exposure of the public. The emissions are continuously monitored by the operators according to uniform regulations and reported to the authorities. The quality of the measurements is assured by officially commissioned experts in accordance with a federal rule. The operators' measurements are supplemented by remote monitoring systems operated by the state authorities. The measured discharges are the basis for calculation of the radiation exposure of the public. The concept of emission measurements of the nuclear plants in Germany is described in this paper