Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

3 primary works

Quantitative Risk Assessment of Hazardous Materials Transport Systems

by M. Nicolet-Monnier and A.V. Gheorghe

Published 5 December 2010

Industrial development is essential to improvement of the standard of living in all coun tries. In a given region, old and new plants, processes, and technologies have to coexist Technological penetration and substitution processes are generally taking place; they are entirely dynamic and this trend is going to stay like this. People's health and the environment can be affected, directly or indirectly, by rou tine waste discharges or by accidents. A series of recent major industrial accidents and the effect of poUution highlighted, once again, the need for better management of rou tine and accidental risks. Moreover, the existence of natural hazards complicate even more the situation in any given region. Managing the hazards of modern technological systems has become a key activity in highly industrialized countries. Decision makers are often confronted with complex issues concerning economic and social development, industrialization and associated infrastructure needs, population and land use planning. Such issues have to be ad dressed in such a way that ensures that public health wiD not be disrupted or substan tially degraded.

Risk Engineering

by A.V. Gheorghe and Ralf Mock

Published 31 March 1999

Industrial development is essential to improvement of the standard of living in all countries. People's health and the environment can be affected, directly or indirectly by routine waste discharges or by accidents. A series of recent major industrial accidents and the effect of pollution highlighted, once again, the need for better management of routine and accidental risks. Moreover, the existence of natural hazards complicate even more the situation in any given region. In the past effort to cope with these risks, if made at all, have been largely on a plant by plant basis; some plants are well equipped to manage environmental and health hazards, while others are not. Managing the hazards of modern technological systems has become a key activity in highly industrialised countries. Decision makers are often confronted with complex issues concerning economic and social development, industrialisation and associated infrastructure needs, population and land use planning. Such issues have to be addressed in such a way that ensures that public health will not be disrupted or substantially degraded. Due to the increasing complexity of technological systems and the higher geographical density of punctual hazard sources, new methodologies and a novel approach to these problems are challenging risk managers and regional planers. Risks from these new complex technological systems are inherently different form those addressed by the risk managers for decades ago.

Critical Infrastructures at Risk

by A.V. Gheorghe, M. Masera, M. Weijnen, and L.J. De Vries

Published 1 January 2006

Europe witnessed in the last years a number of significant power contingencies. Some of them revealed the potentiality of vast impact on the welfare of society and triggered pressing questions on the reliability of electric power systems. Society has incorporated electricity as an inherent component, indispensable for achieving the expected level of quality of life. Therefore, any impingement on the continuity of the electricity service would be able to distress society as a whole, affecting individuals, social and economic activities, other infrastructures and essential government functions. It would be possible to hypothesize that in extreme situations this could even upset national security.

This book explores the potential risks and vulnerabilities of the European electricity infrastructure, other infrastructures and our society as whole increasingly depend on. The work was initiated by the need to verify the potential effects of the ongoing market and technical transformation of the infrastructure, which is fundamentally changing its operation and performance. The final aim is to set the basis for an appropriate industrial and political European-wide response to the risk challenges.