Benchmark study for a flammable liquid depot - A comparison of two risk analyses

International audienceIn France and in the Netherlands, regulations apply to determine the risk that companies with poisonous, flammable or explosive substances and mixtures impose on the surroundings. The outcomes of risk calculations are used for the rendering of permits and for land-use planning. The way in which risk is calculated in France and the Netherlands, differs significantly. The regulatory framework is different and technical hypotheses vary. Nevertheless, the risk outcomes for a fictive storage depot of flammable liquids and their consequences for permitting and land-use planning show considerable similarity. This is the result of a study carried out by the French INERIS and the Dutch RIVM. Public authorities in these two countries can use the findings of this study to evaluate their frameworks for risk calculation. For this study, the risk of a fictitious storage depot of flammable liquids was calculated in accordance with the French and Dutch regulations. Several significant differences were observed. Differences in policy framework involve the norms for acceptance of risk and the way in which outcomes are used for rendering the permit and spatial planning. Furthermore, the methodology to be used is prescribed in the Netherlands, while in France the methodology is selected and justified by the industrialist. Technical differences relate to the accident scenarios used, probabilities assigned to these accident scenarios and the size of the area where damage occurs. The area where vulnerable objects are undesirable and where future vulnerable objects should be avoided is largely the same in the two risk analyses. The area where significant consequences from a potential accident have to be considered is comparable as wel