Atoms and radioactivity Atoms Gases, liquids and solids are composed of atoms. It was once thought that atoms could not be split: the word atom comes from átomos , an ancient Greek word meaning "indiv
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Nuclear fission The protons and neutrons are held together in the nucleus of an atom by the strong force there, which only operates over an extremely short distance. In order to induce nuclear fission
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Abbreviations Abbreviation Meaning AtG Atomic Energy Act AtSMV Nuclear Safety Officer and Reporting Ordinance BASE Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management BfS Federal Office for Radi
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Ionising radiation Radiation transports energy. The energy is transported in the form of electromagnetic waves via photons (= light quanta/light particles), as with visible light, X-radiation or gamma
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Nuclear reactors – how they work In a nuclear power plant, controlled nuclear fission generates heat in the reactor core. The heat is used to produce steam. The steam drives a turbine connected to a g
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Physics Atoms may have a stable or an unstable nucleus. Atoms with an unstable nucleus can decay spontaneously without any external influence. During decay, ionising radiation is produced. This is kno
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Privacy Policy The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) takes the protection of personal data very seriously. For users to be able t
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BMUV notifications After consulting the Länder , the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) publishes notifications in the form of sta
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Classification of reportable events In the Federal Republic of Germany, reportable events at nuclear power plants have, since 1975, been notified to the nuclear regulatory authorities in accordance wi
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