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 posed by 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 on first floors and to take measures if necessary.

Due to the geological conditions in Upper Lusatia, significant indoor radon concentrations are also possible in principle. For this reason, Prof. Schönmuth and U. Heidrich (Radiation Technology Laboratory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) began to develop a corresponding measurement program at our Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences 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, but around 1/3 of the measurements were also carried out outside - with a growing trend. 

At the Radon Day in Bad Schlema, Prof. Schönmuth presented the measurement results in addition to a brief overview of the students' training. In more than 90% of all buildings examined, the radon concentration in indoor air can be safely kept below the StrlSchG reference value of 300 Bq/m³; simple ventilation measures are often sufficient to effectively reduce the activity concentration.

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