Bhopal

There are three types of TAP emissions continuous, intermittent, and accidental. Both routine emissions associated with a batch process or a continuous process that is operated only occasionally can be intermittent sources. A dramatic example of an accidental emission was the release of methyl isocyanate [624-83-9] in Bhopal, India. As a result of this accident, the U.S. Congress created Tide III, a free-standing statute included in the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986. Title III provides a mechanism by which the pubHc can be informed of the existence, quantities, and releases of toxic substances, and requires the states to develop plans to respond to accidental releases of these substances. Eurther, it requires anyone releasing specific toxic chemicals above a certain threshold amount to aimuaHy submit a toxic chemical release form to EPA. At present, there are 308 specific chemicals subject to Title III regulation (37). 

Naphthol is mainly used in the manufacture of the insecticide carbaryl (59), l-naphthyl A/-methyicarbamate/ iJ-2j5 - (Sevin) (22), which is produced by the reaction of 1-naphthol with methyl isocyanate. Methyl isocyanate is usually prepared by treating methylamine with phosgene. Methyl isocyanate is a very toxic Hquid, boiling at 38°C, and should not be stored for long periods of time (Bhopal accident, India). India has developed a process for the preparation of aryl esters of A/-alkyl carbamic acids. Thus l-naphthyl methylcarbamate is prepared by refluxing 1-naphthol with ethyl methylcarbamate and POCl in toluene (60). In 1992, carbaryl production totaled > 11.4 x 10 t(35). Rhc ne-Poulenc, at its Institute, W. Va., facihty is the only carbaryl producer in United States. 

In Delaware, the Regulation for the Management of Extremely Ha2ardous Substances Act, developed in response to the Bhopal disaster and several chemical-release incidents in Delaware, became effective in 1989 (27,28). The regulations Hst 88 toxic substances, 32 flammable substances, and 50 explosive substances. A sufficient quantity is specified for each of these materials, based on potential for a catastrophic event at a distance of 100 m from a potential source of a 1-h release. 

Protection of Employees. In 1986, shortly after the Bhopal disaster, OSHA contracted to develop a federal standard on process ha2ards management. A proposed standard was issued in 1990, and the Process Safety Management of Highly Ha2ardous Chemicals standard was issued and implemented in 1992 (36). 

IntensiHcation This involves using so little hazardous material that it does not matter if it all leaks out. For example, at Bhopal, methyl isocyanate (MIC), the material that leaked and killed over 2000 people, was an intermediate for which it was convenient but not essential to store. Within a few years many companies had reduced their stocks of MIC and other hazardous intermediates. 

Substitution If intensification is not possible, then an alternative is to consider using a safer material in place of a hazardous one. Thus it may be possible to replace flammaole solvents, refrigerants, and heat-transfer media by nonflammable or less flammable (high-boiling) ones, hazardous products by safer ones, and processes which use hazardous raw materials or intermediates by processes which do not. As an example of the latter, the product manufactured at Bhopal (carbatyl) was made from three raw materials. Methyl isocyanate is formed as an intermediate. It is possible to react the same raw materials in a different order so that a different and less hazardous intermediate is formed. 

R.K. Gupta. NGEF Ltd, New Delhi J.R. Mahajan, Voltas Ltd. Mumbai Anil Kamra. Crompton Greaves Ltd, New Delhi B. Raman, BHEL, Bhopal S.K. Sharma, GE Motors India Ltd. Faridabad Anirudh Singh, BHEL, New Delhi... 

P.B. Dabholkai and Indrajit Jadhav, ABB, Vadodara Sanjiv Bahl, ABB, Delhi Pankaj Sachdeva and Balamotirougan, Alstom (India), Chennai V. Mohan, Rajiv Tandon, Prem Kumar and Chand Chadha. Larsen and Toubro. New Delhi Kapil Grover, Allen Bradley. Sahibabad S.P. Sharma. L T, Mumbai B. Raman. BHEL. Bhopal... 

V. Raghavan, BHEL, Bhopal N. Biswas, Alstom, New Delhi P.P. Sreekanth, Alstom, New Delhi Manjeet Singh and Man O. Misra, ABB, New Delhi Sandeep Mathew Siemens India, New Delhi... 

A plant team working with the Pampa fire department brought the fire under control. The Chemical Manufacturers Association s Community Awareness Emergency Response Program (CARE), developed after the Bhopal disaster was credited with effectiveness of their efforts in putting out the fire. 

Are toxic materials being processed This was the cause of the Bhopal accident, and the less disastrous Seveso accident. 

HDetect Financial Risks. In addition to physical injuries, a company may be injured by the perception of injury that result in law suits, drop in stock price, and reduction in sales. A detailed analysis (2) will as.scss vulnerability but it docs not directly address the perception factor. A case in point is TMI-2 which complied with 10 CFRIOO, had no injuries and no deaths, but the company was driven to near-bankruptcy. Similarly with Bhopal and Union Carbide, although there were deaths. ... 

Prepare an event tree diagram of the Bhopal accident. 

The previous chapter described the consequences of a nuclear reactor accident. Chemical process accidents are more varied and do not usually have the energy to melt thick pressure vessels and concrete basemats. The consequences of a chemical process accident that releases a toxic plume, like Bhopal did, are calculated similarly to calculating the dose from inhalation from a radioactive plume but usually calculating chemical process accidents differ from nuclear accidents for which explosions do not occur. 

For accidents to affect the public, containment and off-gas processing must fail, such as occurred at Bhopal and Chernobyl and did not occur at TMI-2. 

Demography has a large effect. At Bhopal, the surrounding population was dense, considering the hazardousness of the operation, and impeded emergency action. 

Show the complex iterations between government laws and regulations and the PSA response to not only comply but to protect the process industry. The real impact of the accident at the Three-Mile Island nuclear plant was not radiation, which was within regulations but financial losses to the utility and the acceptance of nuclear electrical f>ower in the United States. The effects of the Bhopal accident were in human life but it also had a profound effect on the chemical industry financially, and its acceptability and growth. Present the mathematics used in PSA in one chapter to be skipped, studied, or relerred to according to the readers needs. 

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