Institute of Radiation Protection

Radionuclides are unstable isotopes of chemical elements which affect human health in a concentration-dependent manner. They are present in the air we inhale and enter our food chain through plants which incorporate them.

Radionuclides occur either naturally in our environment like the gaseous Radon (²²²Rn) or 0.0118% of the natural mineral potassium (⁴⁰K), or are artificially generated by nuclear energy. In case of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986 radioisotopes of caesium (¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs) and strontium (⁹⁰Sr) played a major role. Due to the long half-lives of some isotopes, e. g. ¹³⁷Cs with more than 30 years, our environment will still be affected for a long time.

In our group we pool expertise in biology, physics and chemistry

• to study  the behaviour of radionuclides in the different ecosystems and their transfer from the source to man as well as to develop analytical methods.

• to uncover genetic factors involved in radionuclide uptake, metabolism and accumulation in the model systems yeast and Arabidopsis thaliana as well as in crop plants with the aim to reduce radiation exposure via the food chain.

Our aim is to understand the distribution and migration patterns of radionuclides in the environment in order to develop safeguard measures for a potential contamination case. Our genetics approach is intended to provide us with the tools for breeding crop plants with reduced radionuclide levels.