SAPHEDRA project : Building a European Platform for evaluation of consequence models
Résumé
Among risk assessment procedures for hazardous installations, one of the most important parameters to assess is the impact distance. More generally, consequence assessment of accident scenarios is a crucial item in safety assessment. The selection of the more appropriate model for consequence assessment is thus a critical point, in particular when new technologies and emerging risks are considered, since in such frameworks a consolidated modelling approach to consequence assessment is usually absent. To address this issue, the SAPHEDRA project has started in April 2015 and will run until September 2016. It addresses the following research questions: - What are the hazardous phenomena associated with new technologies or new materials? - How suitable are existing models and tools for evaluating the consequences of these hazardous phenomena? - More generally, what confidence can we give to the “traditional tools” used for assessing emerging risks? - Is it possible to define a broadly accepted protocol for the evaluation of these models and tools and can this protocol be applied at EU level? - To reduce uncertainty, is it possible to identify best practices for model application? The project aims to: - Build the framework to allow an objective assessment of the performance of hazard assessment / consequence analysis models and related simulation tools, and their application domains, based on an EU commonly-agreed protocol and a set of test cases derived from well-established experiments, - Build the framework to communicate model assessment results openly and transparently to all stakeholders obtaining a standardized template, 198 - Openly and transparently communicate strategies to select an appropriate model when different models are available, - Provide information on how to get access to relevant models and tools available on a web platform operated in English, accessible to all stakeholders including the public. The session will introduce the project to the participants by providing an overview on the objectives and the work performed. The session will also present two of the major outcomes of the work carried out: a) the review of the modelling approaches and the test campaigns performed; and b) the protocol proposed for the evaluation of the models. Finally, a panel discussion with end-users and stakeholders, in interaction with the audience will enable to collect a feedback on this initiative.