As part of the 12th Saxon Radon Day, more than 150 stakeholders from industry, science, administration and the construction industry met to discuss radon-safe construction. The Radon Day was organized by the HTW Dresden together with Bad Schlema with the support of the Saxon State Ministry for the Environment and Agriculture. In addition to presentations on the legal framework, the geology of deposits and the assessment of risks from radon using epidemiological structures, the focus was primarily on experiences in the implementation of measurement programs and remediation.

It is not only the Ore Mountains region that will face new challenges in the coming years as a result of the new legal regulations on radon protection. The new Radiation Protection Act (StrlSchG), which came into force last year, contains binding regulations on radon protection for the first time. Radon protection measures must already be provided for new buildings from December 31, 2018. Once affected areas have been designated by 2021 at the latest, employers will be obliged to carry out appropriate measurements at workplaces in basements and first floors and take measures if necessary.

Due to the geological conditions in Upper Lusatia, significant indoor radon concentrations are also possible in principle. At our Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Schönmuth and U. Heidrich (Radiation Technology Laboratory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) therefore began to develop a corresponding measurement program even before the new Radiation Protection Act came into force. From the outset, the focus was on actively involving students. In the meantime, around 250 measurements have been carried out. The focus was or is on measurements in buildings at the university, approx. 1/3 of the measurements were - with a growing tendency - also carried out outside.

At the Radon Day in Bad Schlema, Prof. Schönmuth presented a brief overview of the students' training and the measurement results obtained. In more than 90% of all buildings examined, the reference value of the StrlSchG for a radon concentration in indoor air of 300 Bq/m³ can be safely undercut; simple ventilation measures are often sufficient for an effective reduction of the activity concentration.

Further information is available, for example, from the Radiation Technology Laboratory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.