Transcript TECHNO-LEGAL IMPACT OF BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

TECHNO-LEGAL IMPACT OF
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
Dr. Asit K Patra
Disaster Management Institute
Bhopal
[email protected]
The MIC Accident (BGT)
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41 T MIC release
Cold winter midnight of 2nd – 3rd December 1984
Between 00:40 and 02:30 AM approx.
At 30m (100ft) height
Moved as a 10m (30ft) high wall
Covered residential areas, main hospitals, railway
station, 65 sq. km. area (25 sq. miles)
 Approx. 8000 immediate deaths, over 200,000 suffered
 Over 12000 more died since, over 120,000 still suffering
 UC continued to deny any long-term effects
The MIC Accident (BGT):Technical Reasons
* Protective equipment which should have prevented or minimised the
discharge was out of action or not in full working order
* The Refrigeration System which should have cooled the storage tank was
shut down.
* The scrubbing system which should have absorbed the vapour was not
immediately available.
* The flare system which should have burnt any vapour which got past the
scrubbing system, was out of use.
*The high temperature and pressure on the MIC tank were at first ignored, as
the instruments were poorly maintained. High temperature alarm did not
operate as the set point had been altered and was too high.
After-Effects: Changes ushered in by Bhopal Accident
New paradigms used are:
• Inherently safer design
• Clean technologies
• Green chemistry
• Green technology
• Process intensification
• BRITEST (Best Route Innovation Technology Evaluation
and Selection Techniques)
After-Effects: Changes ushered in by Bhopal Accident
Research Areas
• Researching in process safety management
• Good science based legislation instead of ‘knee-jerk’
reactions
• Getting chemists and chemical engineers together in the
early stages of developments.
• Increase in student numbers and research funding
• Active research in universities and industry
• CFD modeling of fire, explosions and gas dispersion
• Explosion Prevention and suppression
Legislation
• Dramatic changes since Bhopal
• EU, India, USA, most other countries enacted
numerous laws
• Encouraging inherently safer practices
• Third world countries accepting transfer of technology
Actions by Industry
• Reduced storage inventory significantly
• Process Hazard and Risk Assessment
• Standards of safety uniform across a corporation
regardless of plant location
• Vigorous training, including of top bosses
THANKS
For any query:
[email protected]