Geographia Technica, Vol 13, Issue no. 1/2018, pp. 109-118
VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS FOR TWO ACCIDENT SCENARIOS AT AN UPPER-TIER SEVESO ESTABLISHMENT IN ROMANIA
Lucrina ŞTEFĂNESCU, Camelia BOTEZAN, Iulia CRĂCIUN
ABSTRACT: Major accidents involving dangerous substances pose a serious threat to the health and safety of local communities and the environment, as well as to the integrity and development of infrastructure where Seveso establishments are located. In some cases, the disastrous effects may affect larger, even cross-border areas. At European level, there are continuous efforts to develop land-use planning policies and regulations to reduce consequences and to prevent future accidents from happening. Hence, research in this field comes to support the current actions and strategies of the European Commission to improve the capacity of the EU Member States to cope with and respond to the identified risks through effective prevention, preparedness and response measures. In Romania, the Seveso establishments are mostly located in or very close to urban areas. This paper analyses vulnerability in case of two different accident scenarios (explosion and toxic dispersion) in Targu-Mures, a city hosting one of the largest Seveso upper-tier establishments in Romania. The approach starts with exposure analysis - the first step in the process of vulnerability analysis - which identifies all the elements at risk, be they social (population, medical facilities, schools), environmental (protected areas, water bodies) or economic (transport infrastructure, buildings, utility and water supply networks, fuel or food storage facilities). Following the exposure analysis, vulnerability is assessed based on indicators selected in such way so that they cover the entire range of social, economic, environmental aspects, as well as the existing response capabilities in case of a major accident.
Keywords: vulnerability, exposure, Seveso establishments, dangerous substances, chemical accident.
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