Disasters levels

Another nuclear disaster rated equal to Chernobyl happened at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan on the 11th of March 2011. Nuclear reactors were damaged by strong earthquakes and tsunami. Crisis level at the Fukushima nuclear plant was raised to level 7 after 1 month of the disaster. Level 7 is classified by IAEA as the worst level on an international scale. 

Abe, N. (1978). Levels of Trust and Reactions to Various Sources of Information in Catastrophic Situations. In E. A. Quarantelli (Ed.), Disasters Theory and Research. Beverly Hills Sage Publications. 

About 2.5 million tons (2.3 million tonnes) of coal arc burned daily in U.S. power plants. This is equivalent to roughly 21,000 railcars in transit, so it is apparent that coorditiatiiig production and cotistimp-tioii is no easy task. Accidents, rail strikes, natural disasters (e.g., floods that take out bridges and rail lines) and severe weather (e.g., deep river freezes that halt barge traffic) can all severely disrupt deliveries for utility customers dependent on a reliable coal supply for base load plants. Nonetheless, to reduce costs U.S. utilities have significantly reduced typical inventory levels over time. Wliereas a coal inventory of ninety days of supply was once typical, inventories now frequently run in the range of thirty to forty-five days. 

One of the primary consequences of any disaster is its adverse impact on human health and welfare. In order to effectively and efficiently prepare for and respond to possible incidents, public health and medical officials at all levels of government must be prepared to address sudden and unexpected demands for services that may exceed readily available resources. Conduct and support research and investigations into the cause, treatment, or prevention of a disease or disorders. 

Ever since the inception of the petroleum industry the level of fires, explosions and environmental pollution that have precipitated from it, has generally paralleled its growth. As the industry has grown so has the magnitude of its accidental events. Relatively recent events such as the Flixborough incident (1974), Occidental s Piper Alpha disaster (1988), and Exxon s Valdez oil spill (1989) have all amply demonstrated the extreme financial impact these accidents can produce. 

It is not unreasonable to make a general statement - the application of symmetry constraints to a model wave function is more and more restrictive the simpler the model. In particular, application of symmetry restrictions at level (C) is courting disaster when very simple models are used. 

Unless an incident occurs at a nuclear facility, it is possible that the first responders will not recognize the radiological aspects of the event. Because it is not likely that all responding individuals will have received training normally required of workers who are routinely occupationally exposed, it is necessary to establish a mechanism to ensure that the workers are not likely to receive an unacceptable level of exposures, while at the same time allowing them to perform critical missions during the early phase of a disaster. 

HSPD - 21 Public Health and Medical Preparedness. Establishes a national strategy that will enable a level of public health and medical preparedness sufficient to address a range of possible disasters. 

In addition to this, there is the level of worker stress. While that is psychological, that stress is real, and there is an awareness of the constant danger, and the potential for accidents. There is a continual low level awareness of what the worker is exposed to and the potential for disaster, even in the safe areas. Extended worker vacation is often necessary if only to relieve psychological stress. 

After the Athens earthquake in 1981 there was a marked increase in deaths due to heart attacks over a period of five days after the quake on the day of the earthquake in Los Angeles, there was an increase in heart attacks. In the first few days after the Iraqi missile attacks on Israel in 1991, there was a sharp increase in heart attacks in Israel compared with control periods. The psychological stress caused by these sudden disasters could have raised the blood fatty acid levels above the safe level in some subjects which could have increased the risk of a heart attack. 

The Minamata Bay disaster in 1953 (see Smith and Smith [9]) triggered an enormous amount of work, internationally, on techniques for determining mercury levels. Mercury occurs naturally in the environment in the form of mineral deposits and also anthropogenically from industrial and agricultural wastes. 

---