Unmanned aerial vehicle as a device supporting the physical protection system of critical infrastructure facilities: nuclear power plant as a case in point

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of unmanned aerial vehicles as devices supporting the system of physical protection of critical infrastructure facilities using the example of a nuclear power plant. This paper contains information on the reasons for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the era of economic development of the Polish state. The legal requirements consisting of the analysis of the risk of terrorist threats for the facility was indicated. One of the sources of danger is unmanned aircraft or flying models increasingly used in the airspace. Furthermore, this paper presents legal rules and principles according to which missions of unmanned aerial vehicles or flying models are performed. The current regulations allow the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as devices supporting physical security systems at facilities. This study showed that although the use of unmanned aircraft for the purpose of increasing the security level of critical infrastructure facilities has some limitations, however, the possibilities arising from their usefulness are the decisive advantage of the need to implement drone technology in security

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE AS A DEVICE SUPPORTING THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION SYSTEM OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AS A CASE IN POINT

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of unmanned aerial vehicles as devices supporting the system of physical protection of critical infrastructure facilities using the example of a nuclear power plant. This paper contains information on the reasons for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the era of economic development of the Polish state. The legal requirements consisting of the analysis of the risk of terrorist threats for the facility was indicated. One of the sources of danger is unmanned aircraft or flying models increasingly used in the airspace. Furthermore, this paper presents legal rules and principles according to which missions of unmanned aerial vehicles or flying models are performed. The current regulations allow the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as devices supporting physical security systems at facilities. This study showed that although the use of unmanned aircraft for the purpose of increasing the security level of critical infrastructure facilities has some limitations, however, the possibilities arising from their usefulness are the decisive advantage of the need to implement drone technology in security

Quantitative analysis of aviation incidents: A comprehensive study on bird strikes and safety improvement opportunities

Safety in aviation has various connotations. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), it is a state in which the possibility of harm to people and property is minimised and maintained within a continuous process of identifying threats and managing safety risks at an acceptable level or below an acceptable level. Actions related to threat identification can be reactive, proactive, or predictive. Reactive actions aim to verify what happened, why, and how to prevent it from recurring. For this purpose, incidents that occurred in the past are analysed. By Polish law, the Commission for Investigating Aviation Accidents investigates accidents and serious incidents, while incidents mostly fall under the responsibility of the aviation organisation in which the incident occurred. Therefore, this article aims to identify threats causing incidents. Three thousand two hundred aviation incidents reported between 2017 and 2022 to the Civil Aviation Office as part of the mandatory and voluntary event reporting system were analysed. The identified causes, due to the diversity of their description, were divided into four groups. The first group consists of human factors, representing inadequate actions by pilots, crews, or individuals who caused a situation of danger. The second group comprises errors in the operation of technical objects, including aircraft. This group also includes situations where foreign objects violate airspace or minimum conditions are breached. The next group includes environmental causes such as wild animals, birds, and weather conditions. The last group consists of procedures related to flight phases

Risk Management Model for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles during Flight Operations

Risk management and uncertainty models are practised in all branches of transport. Although unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) constitute a branch of the industry rather than transport as a whole, their development is oriented toward increasingly more serious applications involving the transport of goods and people. The constantly growing number of operations employing UAVs requires not only identification of hazard sources or risk assessment recommended by the applicable regulations, but also comprehensive risk management. In order to develop a systematic approach to risk management for air operations of UAVs, the classic risk management method can be used. This work proposes a novel multi-criteria risk model that may serve as the basis for further activities aimed at developing a risk management method for this domain. The model was based on six criteria and validated using a virtual route to risk assessment and valuation

Molecular symmetry determines the mechanism of a very efficient ultrafast excitation-to-heat conversion in Ni-substituted chlorophylls

AbstractIn the Ni-substituted chlorophylls, an ultrafast (<60fs) deactivation channel is created, which is not present in Ni-porphyrins. This observation prompted us to investigate in detail the mechanism of excitation-to-heat conversion in Ni-substituted chlorophylls, experimentally, using time-resolved laser-induced optoacoustic spectroscopy, and theoretically, using group theory approach. The Ni-substituted chlorophylls show exceptional photostability and the optoacoustic measurements confirm the prompt and very efficient (100%) excitation-into-heat conversion in these complexes. Considering their excellent spectral properties and the loss-free excitation-into-heat conversion they are likely to become a new class of versatile photocalorimetric references. The curious features of the Ni-substituted chlorophylls originate from the symmetry of a ligand field created in the central cavity. The central NNi2+ bonds, formed via the donation of two electrons from each of the sp2 orbitals of two central nitrogens to an empty s−dx2−y2 hybrid centered on Ni2+, have a considerable covalent character. The extreme rate of excited state relaxation is then not due to a ladder of the metal centered d-states, often invoked in metalloporphyrins, but seems to result from a peculiar topology of the potential energy surface (a saddle-shaped crossing) due to the covalent character of the NNi2+ bonds. This is confirmed by a strong 0→0 character of electronic transitions in these complexes indicating a similarity of their equilibrium geometries in the ground (S0) and the excited states (both QX and QY). The excitation energy is very efficiently converted into molecular vibrations and dissipated as heat, involving the central Ni2+. These Ni-substituted pigments pose a fine exemplification of symmetry control over properties of excited states of transition metal complexes