[en] The article deals with a certain aspect of a sociological interpretation of the complex subject of risks to be accepted by a society, i.e. with the problem of the implications and impacts of acceptable risk definition becoming a topic of social conflict. The author assumes that the novel conflicts arising from effects of risks and costs of risks are beginning to superimpose upon the traditional conflict patterns of an industrial society. Characteristic features of conflicts about risks, resulting consequences, and three types of risk are discussed. (DG)

[en] There is an urgent need for sufficient knowledge to allow reliable assessment of the risks associated with engineered nanomaterials (ENPs). Significant advances in basic understanding of nano safety have been made, but there is still no clear systematic basis for risk-related research, and major uncertainties remain in the absence of uniform procedures. The following papers provide the guidance on how to proceed within the area of fate and hazard assessment, and how this links into grouping, testing and risk assessment of nanomaterials. This guidance is coupled with an industrial view on the most important research areas for nanomaterials. - There is an urgent need for sufficient knowledge to allow reliable assessment of the risks associated with nanomaterials (ENPs), the following papers provide the guidance on how to obtain this knowledge.

[en] A more streamlined approach is proposed for executing the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Process. This approach recognizes the uncertainties associated with the process, particularly regarding the derivation of human health risk estimates. The approach is tailored for early identification of sites and contaminants of immediate concern, early remediation of such sites, and early identification of low-risk sites that can be eliminated from further investigations. The purpose is to hasten the clean-up process and do so in a cost-effective manner

[en] The risks related to the implementation of ALFRED demonstrator in Romania are discussed. The assessment is based on the risk matrix approach. Two groups of experts were used in the investigation: participants in FP7 ARCADIA projects and members of the FALCON consortium. The results consist of the hierarchy of the risks obtained based on the appreciations of the two groups. They are comparatively presented and discussed in terms of the identified critical risks and possible measures for prevention and mitigation. Additionally, some elements derived from the experience of similar project such as SUSEN and ELI-NP are discussed. (authors)

No abstract available

[en] The example of the Chernobyl accident and the statistics of the occurrence of accidents make clear the threat to humanity, if one cannot guarantee successful accident prevention in the use and distribution of the projects aimed at. The science of safety, as it is known in the Wuppertal model, makes its contribution to this vital task for the human community. It makes it necessary to create the essential dates and concepts, the methods, principles and techniques based on them and the associated instrumentation. (DG)

[en] Highlights: • The paper presents a general framework for describing or characterising risk • The characterisations highlight knowledge aspects of risk, including potential surprises • Practical methods are reviewed and discussed, in particular extended risk matrices • A method for criticality ranking of assumptions is presented • Also a simple method for criticality ranking of risk (influencing) factors and • An approach for describing the manageability of a measure (factor) - Abstract: Current practice for risk characterisations is based on methods reflecting threats, their consequences and probability, as well as concepts like risk factors and sources. The risk matrix is an example of such a method. The risk analysis field has demonstrated that there are many challenges related to this practice and there is a substantial potential for improvements in how the characterisations can be conducted. The key is to better reflect the knowledge aspect of risk. The purpose of the present paper is to present a set of practical methods that can be used for characterising risk in this setting in line with these findings of the risk analysis field. Extended risk matrix approaches are highlighted. These approaches include strength of knowledge judgements and rankings of risk factors and assumptions supporting the analysis. Special attention is given to potential surprises relative to the current knowledge. Simple examples are presented to illustrate the use of these methods and approaches.

[en] A new series analysis from 1970 to 2015 of earthquakes with moment magnitude Mw ≥ 6.5 on a global scale, confirms an early estimation, since the 1980s that seismic activity after 1990 would be increased in relation to the previous period.

[en] This report includes an overview of some ways to go wrong in making decisions – Common deficiencies in reasoning and in modeling, thinking clearly about uncertainty, Case Studies: 1: NASA Challenger 2: Davis-Besse vessel-head event, Interlude: Critical Thinking 3: NASA Columbia 4: Fukushima and concluding thoughts.

[en] The actual Nuclear Power Plant units design, looking to their performance and efficiency, have to be improved and upgraded. Looking to the secondary circuit global efficiency the upgrading possibility exists. Necessity to increase by design the nuclear power and corresponding the electrical power is possible but the steam turbine becomes high volume, especially on the low-pressure stage. Discussing about the global NPP unit efficiency, the transmission of the heat from the reactor by means of the steam generator is performed with a high efficiency; also the steam turbines have good conversion efficiency. In the thermal power plant units, based on different thermal cycle, the secondary thermal circuit evacuates the heat through the condenser. The main desire or goal of the power plant unit is to produce electrical power, so to convert the thermal power in electrical power by any means. One of the solutions is to use appropriate cooling agents that have effective thermal and chemical properties. To use an appropriate thermal cycle with the optimum heat transport agents, in the secondary circuit of a NPP unit, is very important. Using different design on the BOP of NPP unit performs this; some of the effects are on the accident risk and also to the NPP unit reliability. The paper presents different nuclear power plant units that use advanced fuel cycles and efficient thermal cycles on the secondary thermal circuits. Some examples of how is evaluated the accident risk and the plant unit reliability are presented in the paper in order to optimise the design and the investment costs for an accepted accident risk level and a given NPP unit reliability. (authors)