Comparison of Fire Risk Assessment Approaches in the Offshore and Nuclear Industries

摘要

The process industries in the UK have been using risk-based techniques for many years for assessing the safety of major hazard installations, and in particular onshore and offshore petrochemical facilities. The UK offshore safety regime has developed rapidly in the decade since the Piper Alpha disaster and the production of the Cullen Report. Significant effort has been expended on producing Quantified Risk Assessment (QRA) techniques in this industry and Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) methods are well-developed. Similarly, fires are recognised to be significant contributors to risk in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Since the Browns Ferry fire of 1975, much effort has been expended in developing FRA methods for identification of key risk contributors within NPPs. However, the development of FRA techniques in these two key industries appears to have occurred almost independently. This paper compares the techniques used and identifies areas where there is potential for methods to be transferred between industries.