INDUSTRIAL

DISASTERS

OUTLINE

• WHAT ARE DISASTERS?

• TYPES OF DISASTERS

• WHAT ARE INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS?

• TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS

• A TIMELINE OF INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS IN THE PAST

• NUCLEAR DISASTERS

• CHEMICAL/FIRE EXPLOSIONS

• TOXIC CHEMICAL/GAS LEAK

• CHEMICAL POLLUTION

• SOURCES

WHAT ARE DISASTERS?

A disaster is a

natural or man-

made event that

causes damage to

life, property,

livelihood or

industry often

resulting in

permanent

changes to human

societies,

NATURAL DISASTERS

MAN MADE DISASTERS

others28%

industrial12%

transport9%

miscellaneous51%

Man made62%

Disasters in INDIA(1990-2009)

EFFECTS OF DISASTERS

• Deaths

• Disability

• Increase in communicable disease

• Psychological problems

• Food shortage

• Socioeconomic losses

• Shortage of drugs and medical supplies.

• Environmental disruption

“It is reported that in

every twenty seconds of

every working minute of

every hour throughout

the world, someone dies

as a result of an

industrial accident.”

WHAT ARE INDUSTRIAL

DISASTERS?• Disasters caused

by industrial

companies,

either by

accident,

negligence or

incompetence,

where great

damage, injury

or loss of life are

caused.

TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL

DISASTERS• NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

CHERNOBYL, FUKUSHIMA-DAIICHI

• CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS

OPPAU EXPLOSIONS

• FIRE EXPLOSIONS

TEXAS EXPLOSIONS

• TOXIC CHEMICAL/GAS LEAKAGE

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

• CHEMICAL POLLUTION

MINAMATA DISEASE

TIMELINE OF SOME MAJOR

INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL

DISASTERS IN THE PAST

OPPAU , GERMANY-

SEPTEMBER 21,1921.

TEXAS CITY, TEXAS, US- APRIL 16, 1947

FLIXBOROUGH,UK-JUNE 1, 1974

SEVESO, ITALY-JUNE 10, 1976

BHOPAL, INDIA-DECEMBER 3, 1984

SCHWEIZARHALLE, SWITZERLAND-NOVEMBER 1, 1986

TOLOUSE, FRANCE-SEPTEMBER 21, 2001

JILIN CITY, CHINA-NOVEMBER 13, 2005

CHERNOBYL,UKRAINE-ARIL, 1986

FUKUSHIMA-DAIICHI-MARCH 11,2011

CHERNOBYL

NUCLEAR DISASTER

NUCLEAR DISASTERS

• The Chernobyl disaster occurred on

April 1986 at V.I.Lenin nuclear power

plant with four RBMK 1000 reactors

constructed to a flawed design that

was operated by poorly trained

personnel.

• 31 workers died due to radiation

poisoning and 30 km evacuation zone

created. People were exposed to 1000

times more than the normal radiation.

The long term affects resulted in fatal

cancers.

• RBMK 1000 reactors with graphite

moderated, water cooled, fuelled with

UO2 enriched with 2% U-235 and

boron control rods.

• 3200MW energy can be converted into

1000MW electrical energy by turbo

generator's.

• 4 such reactors at Chernobyl.

• Fission reactions generate large

amounts of heat, which are to be

removed by coolant to prevent reactor

meltdown.

• Water circulated through coolant

pipes.

• Steam generated is about 15%

• Flawed design in the reactor: positive

void coefficient.

• This flaw is based on the fact that

water is not only an excellent coolant

but also a reasonably good absorber

of neutrons.

• The major units of the RBMK 1000's

control and cooling system are

the Control and Protection System

(CPS),

the Emergency Core Cooling System

(ECCS),

the Multiple Forced Circulation

Circuit (MFCC)

• These three systems have been

implicated as a part of the root cause of

the Chernobyl accident. primarily they

have been characterized as being slow,

needlessly complex, and particularly

• While all three of these systems are

generally computer controlled, there is

also a provision of manual operation

of the three systems in the event of

computer or mechanical failure that

would necessitate operator

intervention.

• No containment vessel as in the

commercial American nuclear

reactors.

• The reactor was not shut down and

a number of built-in safety devices

were deliberately overridden.

• vast quantities of steam and

chemical reactions built up

sufficient pressure to create an

explosion which blew the protective

slab of the top of the reactor vessel.

• The resulting steam explosions and

fires ejected at least 5 percent of the

radioactive reactor core into the

atmosphere, rich in fission products

which can be readily absorbed by

• RBMK 1000 power plants do not

incorporate a containment vessel in

their design. They have a confinement

system. The roof the reactor building

is basically similar to those found in a

typical industrial factory.

• Immediate efforts were made, but the

limitation was that water cannot be

used as it would have created

radioactive steam.

• The fire was deprived of oxygen by

dumping many tonnes of material

(lead, dolomite etc.) from over-flying

AFTER EFFECTS

• 31 workers died due to radiation

poisoning and 30 km evacuation zone

created.

• People were exposed to 1000 times

more than the normal radiation.

• The long term affects resulted in fatal

cancers.

• It included the people who were

evacuated along with the 50,000

soldiers who fought to control the fire

and the 500,000 workers who cleaned

• A make-shift cover -- the 'Sarcophagus' --

was built in six months after the explosion.

It covers the stricken reactor to protect the

environment from radiation for at least 30

years. This has now developed cracks,

triggering an international effort to fund a

new encasement.

• A new safe confinement is being built to aid

the ageing Sacrophagus and protect the

threat of radiation leakage.

OPPAU DISASTER

CHEMICAL EXPLOSIONS

OPPAU DISASTERDescription

• On September 21, 1921, a massive ammonium

nitrate explosion occurred at a chemical plant

in Oppau Germany.

• A tower storing 4500 tonnes of a mixture of

ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded.

• The factory produces agriculture fertilizers and

other chemical products.

• But during World War I when Germany was

unable to obtain the necessary sulfur, it began

to produce ammonium nitrate as well.

• The 50/50 mixture of ammonium nitrate andammonium sulphate was handled by the plant,was considered stable.

• Sixty-foot silos were used to store mixture.

• Ammonium nitrate is strongly hygroscopic.

• With the time it was compressed into a solid masslike concrete.

• After many failed attempts low grade dynamitewas used to loosen it, that led to a massiveexplosion.

• The entire town of Oppau disappeared.

CAUSES• As all involved died in the explosion, the causes

are not clear.

• Ignorance about the explosive nature of ammonium nitrate.

• According to 1919 tests "less than 60% nitrate = safe" criterion is inaccurate.

• Any explosion of the 50% nitrate mixture is confined to a small volume.

• Increase in concentration of ammonium nitrate to 50-55% and especially 55-60% significantly increases the explosive power of mixture.

• Changes in humidity and density also

significantly affect the explosive properties.

• After several test it was believed that

composition of the mixture in silo was not

uniform, some samples mixture were enriched

in ammonium nitrate

• The explanation is therefore proposed that one

of the charges was by chance placed in such a

pocket, which exploded with sufficient violence

to set off some of the surrounding lower-nitrate

mixture.

LESSON LEARNT

• Parameters such as composition of mixture, density, humidity, etc. may increase the capacity of the ammonium nitrate mixture to explode.

• When process was modified in 1921, similar tests ought to have been conducted for new mixture.

• Industrial buildings must never be built close to factories.

• Poor feedback like two months before disaster, at Kriewald, then part of Germany, 19 people had died when 30 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were detonated by people doing the same thing.

SCALE OF EXPLOSION• The explosion was estimated to be about 1–

2 kilotonnes TNT equivalent, and was heard as a

loud bang in Munich, more than 300 km away

• The pressure wave ripped roofs off up to 25 km

away and destroyed windows even farther away.

• In Heidelberg (30 km from Oppau), traffic was

stopped by the mass of broken glass on the streets.

• About 80 percent of all buildings in Oppau were

destroyed, leaving 6,500 homeless.

SCALE OF EXPLOSION

• According to some descriptions, only 450

tonnes exploded, out of 4,500 tonnes of

fertilizer stored in the warehouse

• At ground a 90 m by 125 m crater,19 m deep,

was created.

BHOPAL

GAS TRAGEDY

CHEMICAL/GAS

LEAK

What happened?• One of the worst industrial catastrophes,

it occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

• During that night, water entered the tank containing 42 tons of MIC (Methyl Iso Cyanate). The resulting exothermic reaction increased the temperature inside the tank to over 200O C and raised pressure. The tank vented releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere.

Factors leading to the

magnitude of Gas leak

• Storing of MIC in large tanks and

filling beyond recommended levels.

• Poor maintenance after the plant

ceased production at the end of 1984.

• Failure of several safety systems.

• Safety systems being switched off to

save money including MIC tank

refrigeration system which could have

mitigated the disaster severity.

Why the impact was more

devastating?

• The problem got worsened by

mushrooming slums in the vicinity,

non-existent catastrophe plans and

shortcomings in health care and

socioeconomic rehabilitation.

• It also included use of a more

dangerous manufacturing method,

manual operations, and lack of skilled

operators.

• No information to local authorities of

the quantities or dangers of the

Chemical reaction employed in

the plant

• The chemical process

used was methylamine

was reacted with

phosgene to form MIC

which reacted with 1-

naphtol to form the

final product.

• A number of safety installations were not in

proper working conditions at that time.

• MIC tank alarms not working for four years.

• One manual backup system whereas four

stage systems used in US.

• The flare tower and vent gas scrubbers had

been out of service. Even if the flare tower

had been working, it could have handled

only a quarter of the gas that leaked.

• Refrigeration was cut down to save costs. MIC was stored at 20oC instead of 4.5 o C.

• Steam boiler was out of action, no ship blind plates used while pipes were being cleaned to prevent its contact with MIC.

• Carbon steel valves which corrode easily were used in the industry.

• There were a lot of previous warnings by UCC and Local Indian

After-effects

• The gases comprising of materials heavier than air, stayed close to the groundand spread outwards through the surrounding community.

• A total of 520,000 people were affected by the gas leak.

• In 1991, 3,298 deaths were certified.

MINAMATA DISEASE

CHEMICAL

POLLUTION

MINAMATA DISEASEDescription

• It is a neurological syndrome caused by

severe mercury poisoning.

• First discovered in Minamata city, Japan, in

1956.

• Effects were severe in cats that they came to

be called “dancing cat fever”.

• While cat, dog, pig, and human deaths

continued for years the government did little

to prevent the pollution.

• 12,617 people have been officially recognized

as patients affected by mercury.

• However, in addition to these, some people died

before the official discovery of Minamata

disease.

• They got compensation after almost 30 years.

SYMPTOMES OF MINAMATA

DISEASE

• Not until the mid-1950's did people begin

to notice “strange disease”.

• Victims were diagnosed as having a

degeneration of their nervous systems.

• Numbness occurred in their limbs and

lips. Their speech became slurred, and

their vision constricted.

• Some people had serious brain

damage, while others lapsed into

unconsciousness or suffered from

involuntary movements.

• People thought the cats were going

insane when they witnessed “suicides”

by the cats.

• Birds were strangely dropping from

the sky.

CAUSES

• It was caused by the release of methylmercury in

the industrial wastewater from the Chisso

Corporation's chemical factory.

• Highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish

and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea,

which, when eaten by the local populace, resulted

in mercury poisoning.

TIMELINE

• 1908: Chisso Corporation first opened a chemical factory in Minamata.

• 1932: started producing acetaldehyde using mercury catalyst.

• 1951: co-catalyst was changed from manganese dioxide to ferric sulfide, resulting in side production of methyl-mercury.

• 1956: A disease of unknown cause (Minamata disease) was discovered.(patients were isolated)

TIMELINE

• 1957: Kumamoto University research group reported heavy metal poisoning as the cause of disease.

• 1959: Purification system was installed. But had no effect.

• 1968: Twelve years after the discovery of the disease Chisso had stopped production of acetaldehyde using its mercury catalyst.

Sources

• Smith, K. (2013). Environmental hazards: Assessing risk and reducing disaster (6.th ed., pp. 389-390). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

• Atwood, C. (1998). Chernobyl-what happened? Journal of Chemical Education, 65(12), 1037-1037.

• Gunn, A. (2008). Encyclopedia of disasters environmental catastrophes and human tragedies. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

• Yadav, R., & Singh, R. (2013). Recent approaches in disaster management (pp. 6-23,100-119). Jaipur: Oxford Book.

• International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2012 1 ISSN 2250-3153

• www.mapguy.net

THANKS!