Major Industrial Hazards: workshop proceedings
Major Industrial Hazards (formerly known as Major Technological Hazards (MTH), is a new subject in terms of the Commission's shared-cost research programmes. Its origins lie in the early 1980s in DG XII's Nuclear Safety programme when concern was felt for the vulnerability of nuclear power stations from external attack by the accidental release of flammable gas clouds. The decline in the nuclear industry and subsequent lowering of interest in related safety issues meant that such MTH research was looking for a new home. This was provided by a Council Decision which assigned it to DG XII's Fourth Environment Programme (1980-1990) with a budget of 3 MECU. Three years later the future of the programme was assured by achieving more substantial support (15 MECU) under the Science and Technology for Environmental Protection (STEP) programme (1989-19920). This support is maintained in the Commission's Third Framework programme where Major Industrial Hazards is again an important research area of the Environment programme (1990-1994). This workshop was held in Frankfurt on 17-18 December 1991. It was organized with three main objectives in mind: - To review the work and findings of the projects completed under the first MTH programme and examine how projects funded under STEP expanded the scope of research in these areas; - To disseminate the findings of the research and to identify the needs of the customers for these results; - To identify topics for forthcoming research programmes. To achieve the realization of these objectives, the workshop programme was organized with four principal aspects: - The presentation of the findings of the four main projects and a description of new projects following on in the same areas; - Four workshops (one to each project area) to examine the effectiveness of this research and to identify the needs for further research; - Guest presentations on important topics relating to MTH; - The identification of research priorities. That the Commission needs to put more resources into disseminating the findings of its funded research is quite clear; the format of this workshop could prove to be an effective means in the future to help in achieving this objective.