We see literally every day examples of how man-made emergencies interfere with the peaceful course of life. Catastrophes sometimes leave indelible scars on the body of our planet. And if the destructive violence of nature is an evolutionary process that leads to natural changes in its structure and to balance, then the catastrophes generated by human activity grossly interfere with the ecosystem. It’s not even worth talking about financial costs when work to eliminate the consequences on the territory takes several years, the most important thing is that natural areas are destroyed as a result of the disaster, animals die, people die, and these losses cannot be compensated for by anything.
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Disasters: small and large
Speaking about examples of emergency situations of a natural and man-made nature in general, several specific types are usually distinguished. Depending on the number of victims, the size of the territory and the total damage in case of emergency situations of biological and social and emergency situations of a natural and man-made nature in Russia and in the world, disasters are classified by scale into:
- local;
- local;
- territorial;
- regional;
- federal;
- cross-border.
variety of danger. Characteristics and classification of man-made emergencies
According to general statistics, among all types of emergencies, man-made disasters account for the largest share - 89.5%. What are man-made disasters and accidents? As already mentioned, human activity is to blame for these events. As a result of the occurrence of a certain source of emergency situations, an unfavorable situation is created at the facility or any territory and there is a threat to the life and health of people, the environment, damage to the national economy and property. Sources arise at potentially hazardous objects (PHOs), technical systems that have energy, which, if released, turns into a damaging factor.
Potentially dangerous objects can be divided into six groups:
- biologically hazardous objects and complex technical systems, in the event of an accident on which flora and fauna may suffer;
- chemically hazardous facilities and complex technical systems that produce, store and process chemicals;
- radiation hazardous objects and complex technical systems. Among man-made emergencies, accidents at such facilities occupy a special place: they are the most extensive in terms of the area affected and make the area dangerous for living for many years. An example of this is Chernobyl;
- hydrodynamic objects and complex technical systems;
- fire and explosion hazardous objects and complex technical systems;
- life support facilities and transport communications. The failure of a public utility facility entails a significant deterioration in the living conditions of the population, and can lead to an environmental disaster.
Accidents at facilities happen due to the negligence of personnel or a malfunctioning system, sometimes a small flaw in the design of the enterprise leads to the death of hundreds of people. Technogenic major emergencies is a broad concept that includes such accidents as:
- associated with all modes of transport, for example, rail, road, air, water, metro;
- with the release of hazardous substances;
- hydrodynamic, associated with the breakthrough of dams and locks;
- explosions and fires;
- accidents on utility and energy networks;
- Emergencies at wastewater treatment plants;
- sudden collapse of buildings.
Why is this happening?
Since the end of the seventies, the number of man-made disasters around the world has increased dramatically, and Russia is no exception. Despite the fact that, for example, in the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2017, emergencies began to occur twice as rarely, this trend does not persist in all regions. The level of risk for the population to suffer in a man-made emergency in Russia over the past decades has become higher than in developed countries. This is due to the decline in industrial development and the degradation of the economy.
Examples of causes of man-made emergencies include:
- human factor;
- exceeding the standard operating life of equipment at the facility;
- extreme climatic conditions;
- low qualification of personnel of enterprises;
- malfunction of electrical equipment;
- non-compliance of objects and territories with safety standards;
- violation of production technology;
- imperfection of the regulatory framework.
On average, every year there are about 150 man-made emergencies in Russia, in which hundreds of people die. For example, according to the statistical data table of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in Russia in 2016, 708 people died in 177 incidents, 3970 were injured. It is worth noting that about 60% of Russians live near critical and potentially dangerous objects. To date, there are 2.5 million hazardous facilities in the country, the condition of which is deteriorating every year. In many cities, the concentration of harmful substances in the atmosphere exceeds the maximum allowable concentration according to the regulations. The water quality of most water bodies does not meet regulatory requirements. To the factors contributing to the emergence of man-made emergencies, it is worth adding the neglect of industrial and technological discipline and the elementary ignorance of safety measures by the population. There have been more and more examples of what the above factors lead to in recent years.
General technogenic situation in the regions of the Russian Federation and examples of emergency situations
It is worth remembering not only about the most famous and large-scale man-made emergencies in the history of Russia, such as Chernobyl, but also about those that happened quite recently. Consider examples of emergency situations that have occurred in different regions of the Russian Federation in recent years.
Examples of emergencies in Moscow and Moscow Region
Moscow is among the subjects most vulnerable to man-made emergencies in the Russian Federation. In particular, Moscow has a huge transport network, a large number of industrial enterprises and research organizations, many of which are dangerous objects. We can separately single out the fallen level of industrial discipline in the Moscow region, the lack of an effective system for protecting the population, a system of local detection and warning.
Fire in the hostel of RUDN University
November 24, 2003
Dead: 44
Injured: 180
Reason: staff negligence
The fire broke out at night in an empty room that belonged to students from Nigeria. Several students tried to put out the fire with their own strength. Firefighters arrived at the scene when the facade of the hostel was already engulfed in flames. University staff and students jumped out of windows, some fell to their deaths, many were seriously injured.
The collapse of the roof of the water park "Transvaal"
February 14, 2004
Dead: 28
Injured: more than 100
Reason: design error
In the evening, at 19:15, the glass dome of the roof collapsed on the entire main water part of the entertainment complex, which was about 5 thousand square meters. m. The investigation under the article "Causing death by negligence" lasted 20 months, as a result, gross miscalculations in the design of the water park were revealed.
The collapse of the roof of the Basmanny market
February 23, 2006
Dead: 68
Injured: 39
Reason: misuse
The inner circular balcony was overloaded with goods, which caused one of the roof cables to break. Throughout the existence of the market, the building was operated incorrectly: the mezzanines were designed for the stall trade.
An example of an emergency in St. Petersburg
Petersburg is the second largest city in the Russian Federation and has the same negative technogenic factors as in the Moscow region. There are about 15 radiation hazardous facilities in St. Petersburg, such as the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, the Russian Research Center "Applied Chemistry" and the V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute. However, over the past 5 years and earlier, there have been no examples of large-scale emergencies, which indicates the effectiveness of monitoring emergencies and incidents.
Accident at the Baltic railway station
November 11, 2002
Dead: 4
Injured: 9
Reason: poor-quality repair, violation of safety rules by employees
An electric train without control suddenly started moving and flew under the tented part of the station at a speed of 41 km/h. The first two carriages were dragged several meters along the platform straight at people.
Examples of emergencies in the Perm region
There are several chemically hazardous facilities on the territory of the Perm Territory, as in the Novosibirsk Region, but it is worth noting a decrease in their number due to changes in technological processes at enterprises and the transition to non-hazardous technologies, which helped to reduce the risk of man-made emergencies in the Perm Territory. However, in 2017, a radiation spot was discovered in the center of Perm, the radiation level exceeded the norm by 100 times.
Release of chlorine in Bereznyaki
A leak at the Soda-Chlorate chemical plant, when a hydrogen valve froze on the hydrochloric acid synthesis column. Soon it was possible to localize the release and eliminate the danger to the inhabitants of the city. The facility was not equipped with a gas leak monitoring system and an emergency notification system: a typical example of the neglect of safety in many private industrial facilities.
Fire in the Lame Horse club in Perm
December 5, 2009
Dead: 156
Injured: 78
Reason: misuse of pyrotechnics
The fire started during a pyrotechnic show in honor of the celebration of the club's eighth anniversary. Sparks hit the low ceiling, decorated with wicker and canvas. A meter-long layer of polystyrene and foam rubber, plastic wall decoration contributed to the rapid ignition. The club instantly began a stampede, the evacuation was complicated by a narrow doorway and an abundance of furniture in a cramped room.
An example of an emergency in the Yaroslavl region
In the Yaroslavl region, the number of emergencies has been steadily decreasing in recent years. However, the scale of the consequences is steadily growing upwards. Experts make disappointing forecasts regarding the traffic situation. Nevertheless, serious work is being done in Yaroslavl related to the prevention and elimination of emergencies.
Fire in the industrial zone of Yaroslavl
On the territory of the warehouse of the industrial zone, barrels with fuel and lubricants caught fire due to the fault of a local resident who decided to set fire to garbage nearby. Acrid black smoke spread throughout the city, explosions were heard. As a result of the emergency, three buildings burned down and one person was injured.
An example of an emergency in the Saratov region
There are more than 50 potentially dangerous objects in Saratov, near which about 30% of the inhabitants live. However, accidents at radiation, fire and explosion hazardous facilities, housing and communal services systems are rare. Among the main examples of emergencies in Saratov are fires in residential, social and cultural buildings and industrial enterprises, as well as traffic accidents in the city and suburbs.
Fire on the oil pipeline in the village of Krasnoarmeiskoye
As a result of the depressurization of the main oil pipeline of Transneft, a fire broke out. The oil fire area was 7,500 square meters. m. Residents were evacuated, no one was injured. There was no pollution of the Volga River. Man-made emergencies in the Saratov region also often occur through the fault of the Togliattiazot enterprise, examples of which are regularly covered in the local press.
An example of an emergency in the Chelyabinsk region
It is included in the list of the subjects of the Russian Federation most vulnerable to man-caused accidents. As an example, in 2017, a thousand-fold excess of the level of ruthenium-106 was detected in the Chelyabinsk region.
Bromine leak in Chelyabinsk
At the railway station, glass containers with liquid bromine were broken from the collision of cars during the dissolution of the train. Then there was heating and ignition of the wooden boxes in which the containers were transported, which led to the boiling of bromine in other containers. Soon a brown-brown cloud of bromine covered the Leninsky district and Kopeysk, also geographically located in the Chelyabinsk region.
An example of an emergency in the Novosibirsk region
There are 154 potentially dangerous objects of the economy in the NSO. A cloud of chemical contamination during a man-made emergency in the Novosibirsk Region can reach up to 20 km, and about 75,000 people will be in its zone. The greatest threat is 1148 tons of ammonia and 180 tons of chlorine. Fire and explosion hazardous and railway facilities are also sources of man-made hazards inherent in the NSO.
Leakage of ammonia through the fault of "Togliattiazot" in the city of Novosibirsk
About 13 tons of ammonia spilled onto the ground as a result of a leak during cargo transportation in the Novosibirsk region. Despite the fact that it was possible to avoid damage to the life and health of local residents, significant environmental damage was caused: over time, the substance will penetrate deep into the ground and pollute drinking water sources in Novosibirsk. ToAz has repeatedly been seen in gross violation of environmental legislation.
An example of an emergency in the Altai Territory
In Altai, an effective system for counteracting crisis situations and combating man-made threats has been successfully formed, so major emergencies in the Altai Territory occur only sporadically. However, due to weather conditions, traffic accidents are not uncommon, and due to wear and tear of equipment, the risk of emergencies at housing and communal services facilities remains.
Accident on the power line in Barnaul
As a result of the accident at the facility, there was a power outage in several areas of the city. 109 thousand people were left without electricity, as well as 48 kindergartens, 32 schools and 6 hospitals. Such examples of utility failures in the Altai Territory can be seen quite often due to the climate.
An example of an emergency in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug is characterized by a dangerous technogenic situation, in particular, due to adverse climatic conditions: for example, extremely low temperatures down to -50, squally winds, forest fires, etc. Transport breaks down, flights are delayed due to weather conditions . There are 28 chemically hazardous facilities in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, in case of destruction of which an infection on a scale of 1847 square meters can occur. m. Also, 15 production facilities that use explosive and combustible substances operate without a license. This region is characterized by frequent natural and man-made emergencies.
Leakage of 170 tons of oil products at the Rosneft enterprise
On the territory of the oil depot LLC "Nizhnevartovsk oil refining association" was discovered the passage of oil products. The liquid was within the bunding of the reservoir, the problem at the facility was soon eliminated, and, according to the management employee, there was no threat to the environment. Despite this, the damage to the soil was estimated at 50 million rubles.
How it was. Examples of major tragedies
The most famous major man-made emergencies and accidents in Russia over the past few decades:
1. Catastrophe at Baikonur on October 24, 1960
An R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile exploded as a result of an unauthorized engine start. The fire killed 74 people.
2. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant April 26, 1986
As a result of testing a new emergency power supply system at the enterprise, a reactor explosion occurred, which generated the release of many radioactive substances into the atmosphere. A 30-kilometer exclusion zone was created around the nuclear power plant;
3. Tragedy "Kursk" August 12, 2000
A nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea during a naval exercise due to an explosion in a torpedo tube. All 118 crew members were killed;
4. The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP on August 17, 2009
Hydro unit No. 2 could not withstand the hydrodynamic loads, water poured into the engine room. As a result, all ten hydraulic units failed, 75 people died.
5. The death of the Tu-154 aircraft near Irkutsk on July 4, 2001
During the landing approach, the aircraft suddenly turned 180 degrees, after which it crashed onto the field and burned out. All 145 people on board were killed.
6. Explosions at the mine "Raspadskaya" May 8-9, 2010
An example of the world's largest tragedy at a coal mine. Explosions destroyed the ground structures of the mine and almost all workings. 91 people died.
7. The death of the ship "Bulgaria" on the Volga on July 10, 2011
Due to the overload of the vessel and the open portholes, into which water was poured during the turn, a list arose and the ship sank. 122 people died.
Path to safety. What do we have to do?
The regions cannot develop sustainably with the current level of risk: direct losses in recent years have reached 10% of GDP. It is necessary to restore the destroyed industrial safety management system, switch to new safe technologies, establish a warning system and ensure the safety of the population. For example, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a project to create shelters in new buildings is already being discussed, and in 2017, System-112 was tested for a single emergency call number in the event of any incident or emergency of a man-made nature in the Rostov region.
The set of measures to prevent man-made emergencies includes the timely replacement of obsolete equipment, the placement of man-made zones themselves at a safe distance from residential areas, fire safety, medical and radiation protection, and other preventive measures. And the more efforts will be made to organize such events, the less man-made disasters await us in the future.
It is also worth tightening the requirements for technological and production discipline at the facilities, because the human factor is often the cause of incidents. The same is said in the above examples of disasters. More than one human life can depend on knowledge and skills to correctly assess the situation, act, and prevent emergencies at the right time. And this should always be remembered.
Emergencies in the world and Russia
Emergencies in the world.
Wars, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, disease outbreaks, famines, radiation accidents and chemical spills are all emergencies that invariably have a huge impact on public health. Internal emergencies in healthcare facilities, such as fires and power or water outages, can damage buildings and equipment and impact staff and patients. Reasons for shutting down hospitals during conflicts include the forced decision of staff to leave the facility due to lack of security, as well as looting and theft of equipment and medicines.
The massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in Pakistan in 2005 also destroyed many medical facilities.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused a disaster that required the evacuation and long-term displacement of hundreds of thousands of people along the US Gulf Coast. The 2005 earthquake in Pakistan triggered landslides that buried entire villages, blocked roads in many areas and left millions homeless.
In 2008, 321 natural disasters claimed the lives of 235,816 people, almost four times higher than the total annual average of casualties over the previous seven years. This increase is due to only two phenomena: according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), Cyclone Nargis left 138,366 people dead or missing in Myanmar, and a strong earthquake in Sichuan, China, caused 87,476 deaths.
Asia, the hardest hit continent, has nine of the 10 countries with the highest number of people in the world killed by natural disasters. According to ISDR, floods, along with other weather events, continued to be the most frequent natural disasters last year. Conflicts around the world have also caused enormous human suffering and increased the strain on medical services to the extreme.
Natural disasters also have huge economic impacts. In 2008, the estimated cost of destruction from natural disasters was $181 billion, more than double the annual average cost of $81 billion from 2000-2007. The Sichuan earthquake is estimated to have caused approximately $85 billion in damage, while Hurricane Ike in the United States of America is estimated to have caused approximately $30 billion.
“The sharp increase in human and economic losses due to natural disasters in 2008 is alarming. The sad thing is that these losses could be largely avoided if buildings in China, especially schools and hospitals, were made more earthquake-resistant. An effective early warning system, along with good local preparedness, would also have saved many lives in Myanmar if done before Cyclone Nargis,” said Salvano Briceno, Director of the United Nations Disaster Reduction Strategy Secretariat.
Although only 11% of people at risk from natural disasters live in developing countries, they account for more than 55% of global deaths due to natural disasters. Differences in impact indicate that there is considerable scope for reducing the number of deaths from natural disasters in developing countries, with human inaction being the main ingredient in these tragedies.
At the moment, there is a growing number of states on the east coast of America, where there is a state of emergency due to the Caribbean hurricane Irene. 65 million people in the likely disaster area.
In the state of North Carolina, heavy rains with wind gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour raised waves of several meters in the Atlantic, as a result, some areas were flooded, 250 thousand houses without electricity.
And these are the consequences of a hurricane, which, according to forecasters, has already weakened. 1 point out of 5 possible on the danger scale.
However, forced evacuations have been announced, in particular, in New York - in those areas that are closer to the water. Public transport will be closed soon. All 3 airports do not accept planes. Several flights from Moscow to New York were canceled on August 27 and 28, 2011.
But that's only part of the picture. There are many smaller events that cause even more human suffering, such as car accidents and fires. Road crashes kill 1.2 million people every year, or more than 3,200 people a day, and an additional 20-50 million people are injured or disabled each year. At least 90% of road traffic and fire fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries. Fires alone kill 300,000 people every year.
Infectious disease outbreaks can cause emergencies with significant deaths and great suffering. During the 12 months to 31 May 2008, WHO confirmed 162 infectious disease outbreaks in 75 countries worldwide. More than a third of all outbreaks have occurred in Asia. They included cholera, other diarrheal diseases, measles, hemorrhagic fever, and other acute emerging diseases.
“The risk of outbreaks is often assumed to be very high in the chaos of natural disasters, and the fear likely comes from the perceived connection between the bodies of dead people and epidemics. However, risk factors for outbreaks after natural disasters are mainly associated with population displacement (usually associated with conflict).” Even a small number of cases of a particular disease can give the impression that people's health is at significant risk, which can lead to serious political, social and economic consequences.
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death and illness among children in conflict areas, especially among refugees and internally displaced persons.
The people most affected by emergencies and natural disasters are in developing countries, especially in countries where poverty prevails and lack the resources needed to cope with the effects of famine, floods and earthquakes.
During disasters and emergencies, concerted action by the international community is needed. The UN is taking urgent action to assess the urgent needs of men, women and children. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) provides assistance to agencies responsible for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Together with its key partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), other UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), OCHA works to distribute food, ensure access to safe water and sanitation, support community health initiatives, reopening of schools with proper infrastructure.
The World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations agency dealing with areas affected by humanitarian crises, has taken a creative approach to the difficult logistical challenge of delivering food aid. In 2005, WFP was at the forefront of all emergency operations, from Darfur and the earthquake in Pakistan to the food crisis in Niger and the tsunami response in Asia. In collaboration with national governments, other UN agencies and NGOs, WFP is conducting an Urgent Needs Assessment (NNA) to address the humanitarian crisis: How many people have been affected by the emergency? Can people feed themselves? What response would be most appropriate?
Natural disasters are devastating for all who experience them, but children suffer the most. They are more likely than adults to go missing during disasters or die from malnutrition, injury or disease. They may be orphaned or separated from their families, deprived of schooling or subjected to various forms of abuse, including gender-based violence. Even as emergencies become more complex and their impact ever more devastating, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) remains determined to provide assistance to save the lives of children affected by disasters and to protect their rights in any situation. circumstances.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) coordinates international action to protect refugees and internally displaced persons in their own countries. The main task of this institution is to protect the rights and ensure the well-being of internally displaced persons or those who have fled their country to escape war or violence. For example, UNHCR supported hundreds of thousands of people who fled their homes during the conflict in western Sudan and eastern Chad. While delivering items such as tents, blankets, plastic sheeting and soap to refugees in a landlocked country was a daunting logistical challenge, UNHCR programs have been able to provide people with everything they need, from temporary shelter for families to latrines , medical aid points, schools and wells.
The largest operations following the tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in Pakistan were organized by UNHCR. Thousands of displaced persons received temporary housing and assistance in organizing life in the camps.
The consequences of earthquakes, rising water levels or tsunamis are serious and long-term. Those who managed to survive face hardships due to destroyed roads, lack of food and the death of relatives. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction provides assistance in post-disaster rehabilitation. The partnership-based strategy takes a global approach to addressing the challenge of disaster reduction. This includes the involvement of individuals and communities in the elimination of social, economic and environmental damage caused by natural disasters.
Emergencies in Russia.
1. Natural and man-made emergencies, their possible consequences
An emergency situation (ES) is a situation in a certain territory or water area that has developed as a result of an accident, natural hazard, catastrophe, natural or other disaster that may or have caused human casualties, damage to human health or the environment, significant material loss and disruption of people's living conditions.
On the surface of the Earth and in the layers of the atmosphere adjacent to it, many complex physical, physicochemical, biochemical, geodynamic, heliophysical, hydrodynamic and other processes occur, accompanied by the exchange and mutual transformation of various types of energy. These processes underlie the evolution of the Earth, being the source of constant transformations in the appearance of our planet. A person is not able to stop or change the course of these processes, he can only predict their development and in some cases influence their dynamics.
Russia, which has an extremely wide variety of geological, climatic and landscape conditions, is exposed to more than 30 types of natural hazards. The most destructive of them are floods, waterlogging, erosion, earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, karsts, suffusions, rock bursts, snow avalanches, hurricanes, storm winds, tornadoes, severe frosts, and various permafrost phenomena. Earthquakes are the most dangerous. In recent years alone, more than 120 earthquakes have occurred on the territory of the Russian Federation. Two of them - in the Kuril Islands on October 4, 1994 and in the village. Neftegorsk on May 27, 1995 were very strong and led to human casualties, severe destruction of social and industrial infrastructure in epicentral regions, as well as to gaps, cracks, landslides and other deformations of the earth's surface.
Other hazards of geological origin include landslides, landslides, mudflows, abrasion, processing of the banks of reservoirs, and permafrost processes. The possibility of damage by landslides and mudflows to the territories of certain regions of the North Caucasus, the Volga region, Transbaikalia and Sakhalin reaches 70–80% of their total area. More than 700 cities in the country are affected by these processes. The total annual damage from them is tens of billions of rubles. Relatively less dangerous due to the lower volumes and speeds of simultaneous movement of masses of rocks and water are the processes of planar and ravine erosion, processing of the banks of reservoirs and seas, and soil swelling. They do not lead to the death of people, but the economic losses from their development can be comparable (as a rule, due to the irreversible loss of land) with natural disasters. In some years, the damage from these processes can amount to 8–9 billion dollars.
Of the atmospheric processes, the most devastating and dangerous are squalls, hurricanes, typhoons, hail, tornadoes, heavy downpours, thunderstorms, snowstorms and snowfalls, which often affect some areas of the Far East (Magadan region and Sakhalin), and in the European part of Russia - Bryansk, Kaluga, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov regions and the Republic of Mordovia.
Of all natural processes and phenomena, floods, tropical storms, droughts and earthquakes cause the greatest economic damage, they are also the most dangerous for human life and health.
An analysis of the development of natural hazards today allows us to conclude that, despite scientific and technological progress, the protection of people and the material sphere from formidable phenomena and processes of nature does not increase. The annual increase in the number of deaths from natural disasters in the world is 4.3%, affected - 8.6%, and the amount of material damage - 10.4%.
Technogenic dangers and threats humanity felt and realized a little later than natural ones. Only with the achievement of a certain stage in the development of the technosphere, man-made disasters invaded human life, the sources of which are accidents and man-made disasters. The danger of the technosphere for the population and the environment is due to the presence in industry, energy and public utilities of a large number of radiation, chemical, biological, fire and explosive technologies and industries. There are about 45 thousand such industries in Russia alone. The possibility of accidents at them is currently aggravated by the high degree of depreciation of fixed production assets, the failure to carry out the necessary repair and maintenance work, and the fall in production and technological discipline.
1. Radiation hazardous objects
There are 10 nuclear power plants (NPPs), 113 nuclear research facilities, 12 fuel cycle industrial enterprises, 8 research organizations working with nuclear materials, 9 nuclear ships with their support facilities, as well as about 13 thousand other enterprises and organizations in Russia. operating with the use of radioactive substances and products based on them. Almost all nuclear power plants are located in the densely populated European part of the country. More than 4 million people live in their 30-kilometer zones. In addition, the system of disposal of nuclear waste produced at these facilities poses a great danger to the population.
2. Chemically hazardous objects
In the Russian Federation, there are more than 3.3 thousand economic facilities that have significant amounts of emergency chemically hazardous substances (AHOV). More than 50% of them use ammonia, about 35% - chlorine, 5% - hydrochloric acid. Up to several thousand AHOV can be located at separate objects at the same time. The total stock of AHOV at the enterprises of the country reaches 700 thousand tons. Many of these enterprises are located in large cities with a population of over 100 thousand people or near them. These are primarily enterprises of the chemical, petrochemical and oil refining industries.
3 Fire and explosion hazardous objects
In our country, there are over 8 thousand fire and explosion hazardous facilities. Most often, explosions and fires occur at the enterprises of the chemical, petrochemical and oil refining industries. They lead, as a rule, to the destruction of industrial and residential buildings, the defeat of production personnel and the population, and significant material damage.
4 Gas and oil pipelines
Currently, more than 200 thousand km of main oil pipelines, about 350 thousand km of field pipelines, 800 compressor and oil pumping stations are in operation at the enterprises of the oil and gas industry, in geological exploration organizations. Most of the main gas pipelines, oil pipelines and oil products pipelines were put into operation in the 60-70s. last century. Therefore, today the share of oil pipelines with a service life of more than 20 years is 73%, of which a significant part has been in operation for more than 30 years. It follows from this that the existing network of oil pipelines has largely exhausted its resource and requires serious reconstruction. The main causes of pipeline accidents are underground corrosion of metal (21%), defective construction and installation works (21), defects in pipes and equipment (14), mechanical damage (19%).
5 Transport
Every year, more than 3.5 billion tons of cargo is transported in the Russian Federation by various modes of transport, including about 50% by rail, 39% by road, 8% by inland waterways, and 3% by sea. Daily transportation of people exceeds 100 million people: by rail - 47%, by road - 37, by aviation - 15, by river and sea vessels - 1%. The most dangerous road transport, during the operation of which an average of 33,415 people die. per 1 billion passenger kilometers. For comparison, in aviation this figure is 1,065 people. In railway accidents, human losses are much lower. It should also be noted that transport is a serious source of danger not only for passengers, but also for the population living in the areas of transport highways, since they transport a large amount of flammable, chemical, radioactive, explosive and other substances that pose a threat to life and health in an accident. of people. Such substances make up about 12% of the total volume of cargo transportation.
6 Hydraulic structures
At present, more than 30,000 reservoirs (including 60 large reservoirs with a capacity of more than 1 billion m3) and several hundred reservoirs of industrial waste and waste are in operation on the territory of the Russian Federation. Hydraulic structures at 200 reservoirs and 56 waste collectors are in emergency condition (they have been in operation without reconstruction for more than 50 years), which can create many problems. They are located, as a rule, within or upstream of large settlements, and all are objects of increased risk. Their destruction can lead to catastrophic flooding of vast territories, many cities, villages and economic facilities, to a long-term cessation of navigation, agricultural and fishing production.
7 Public utilities
About 2,370 water supply and 1,050 sewerage pumping stations, approximately 138,000 transformer substations, and over 51,000 boiler houses function in the housing and communal services of our country. The length of water supply networks is approximately 185 thousand km, heat (in two-pipe terms) - 101 thousand km and sewerage - about 105 thousand km.
About 120 major accidents occur annually at public utilities facilities, the material damage from which amounts to tens of billions of rubles. In recent years, every second accident occurred in networks and heat supply facilities, and every fifth - in water supply and sewerage systems.
The main causes of man-made accidents and disasters are as follows:
The complexity of production is increasing, often this is due to the use of new technologies that require high concentrations of energy, substances hazardous to human life and that have a strong impact on the components of the environment;
The reliability of production equipment and vehicles decreases due to a high degree of wear;
Violation of technological and labor discipline, low level of training of employees in the field of safety.
In addition, sometimes the causes of a number of accidents and man-made disasters are various hazardous natural processes and phenomena.
Measures to prevent the occurrence and development of emergency situations
Prevention of emergencies both in terms of their prevention (reducing the likelihood of occurrence) and in terms of reducing losses and damage from them (mitigating the consequences) is carried out in the following areas:
Monitoring and forecasting of emergency situations;
Rational distribution of productive forces and settlements on the territory of the country, taking into account natural and technogenic safety;
Prevention, within the possible limits, of certain adverse and dangerous natural phenomena and processes by systematically reducing the accumulating destructive potential;
Prevention of accidents and man-made disasters by improving the technological safety of production processes and the operational reliability of equipment;
Development and implementation of engineering and technical measures aimed at preventing the occurrence of sources of emergency situations, mitigating their consequences, protecting the population and material resources;
Training of production personnel and improvement of technological and labor discipline;
Preparation of objects of the economy and life support systems of the population for work in emergency situations;
Declaration of industrial safety;
Licensing of the activities of hazardous production facilities;
Carrying out state expertise in the field of prevention of emergency situations;
State supervision and control on issues of natural and technogenic safety;
Liability insurance for causing harm during the operation of a hazardous production facility;
Informing the population about potential natural and man-made threats in the territory of residence;
Training of the population in the field of protection against emergency situations of peacetime and wartime.
Bibliography:
Civil protection: conceptual and terminological dictionary / Ed. Yu.L.Vorobeva. – M.: Odlayst, 2001.
Organization and conduct of civil defense and protection of the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies Ed. G. N. Kirillova. - M .: Institute of Security and Risk, 2002.
Smirnov A. T., Vasnev V. A. Fundamentals of military service: a study guide. M.: Bustard, 2004.
Man calls himself "the king of nature", and it must be admitted that there is a significant amount of truth in this. In some fifty thousand years, we have traveled an impressive path from animal skins and a stone ax to a nuclear reactor and space flights. Despite the undoubted achievements, modern man is just as helpless before the power of the elements, like his distant Cro-Magnon ancestor. The forces of nature are so great that all the power of our technologies is powerless before them.
Hundreds and thousands of various natural disasters, dangerous and emergency situations occur on Earth every year: hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, earthquakes, etc. A large number of people become their victims. Moreover, human economic activity itself is a source of serious potential danger. It often results in man-made emergencies that can surpass any hurricanes or earthquakes in their consequences. An example is Fukushima or Chernobyl.
Even more dangers and destruction are brought by wars, which in themselves are a terrible disaster. In addition to the dangers arising from the conduct of hostilities, they lead to refugee flows and real humanitarian disasters, which mainly affect the civilian population. Since the beginning of the 1990s alone, there have been 38 local military conflicts and 41 small wars in the world.
It is far from always possible to understand the causes of emergencies or prevent them, but we are not only capable, but also obliged to fight the consequences of the rampant natural disasters and help those affected by it. Each country has a special structure (or several), whose tasks include the elimination of the consequences of emergency situations, as well as assistance to the civilian population in emergency situations.
In our country, such duties are performed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) of the Russian Federation. The decision to introduce or not a state of emergency in a certain territory is made by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Emergency Situations or special commissions. The work of special services, state structures, local governments, as well as other institutions and organizations in emergency situations is regulated by the federal law (FZ) "On the protection of the population and territories from emergency situations."
What is an emergency?
An emergency situation (ES) is a situation that has developed in a certain area as a result of a man-made accident, a natural phenomenon or a natural disaster. As a rule, it poses a threat to the life and health of people, destroys material values, and damages the natural environment and the national economy.
The term “emergency situation” (ES) is often used in the media, which refers to various incidents: road accidents, fires, emergency situations at work, etc. serious consequences.
In descriptions of emergency situations, the words “accident”, “catastrophe” are found, and they are used as synonyms. This is not entirely correct. An accident is an emergency situation related to machinery or mechanisms. For example, a production line breakdown, a vehicle crash, a chemical leak. The scale of such incidents varies greatly. A catastrophe is a broader term, it denotes a tragic incident with significant damage and, as a rule, with massive damage and loss of life.
Existing classifications of emergencies
Currently, there are several classifications of emergency situations. Based on the nature of the causes of emergencies, they can be divided into two large groups:
- conflict;
- conflict-free.
The first group includes all types of emergency situations caused by military operations, conflicts on religious and national grounds, terrorist acts, rampant crime, revolutions, riots, etc. These are emergency situations caused by destructive actions of a person or conflicts between groups of people. Emergency situations of the second type include accidents and catastrophes in industry and natural emergencies, as well as environmental disasters.
Emergencies are unintentional and intentional. In the latter case, we are usually talking about terrorist attacks.
The most important factor by which an emergency is classified and assessed is its scale and the amount of damage caused by the emergency. Here, the consequences of emergency situations are assessed: the size of the lesion, losses among the population, damage to infrastructure and the environment. This aspect is very important for planning and conducting rescue and other operations.
Damage from emergencies can be direct and indirect (indirect). The first type includes the cost of destruction and damage, damage from the failure of economic activities, damage to natural resources, loss of work capacity of workers due to injuries. Indirect damage: economic losses due to the suspension of economic activities, the cost of eliminating the consequences of emergencies, social security of the population affected by the introduction of a state of emergency, etc. Indirect damage is often much greater than direct damage and can have a negative impact on the country's economy for decades.
Based on the classification according to the degree of damage, emergencies are:
- Local character. In this case, the emergency zone does not go beyond the territory of the facility where the incident occurred. The death toll does not exceed ten people, and the damage - 100 thousand rubles;
- municipal character. The emergency zone does not go beyond the boundaries of a settlement or city of federal significance. The number of victims does not exceed 50 people, and the amount of damage is 5 million rubles;
- intermunicipal character. In such an emergency, the affected area extends to several settlements, the number of victims exceeds 50 people, and material damage is more than 5 million rubles;
- regional character. The number of victims is over 50, but not more than 500 people, and the amount of damage is more than 5 million rubles, but does not exceed 500 million rubles. At the same time, the emergency situation does not go beyond the boundaries of one subject of the Russian Federation;
- Interregional character. In this case, the emergency zone affects several federal subjects at once, the number of victims is no more than 500 people, and the amount of damage does not exceed 500 million rubles;
- federal character. This group includes an emergency situation, as a result of which the number of victims exceeds 500 people or the amount of material damage is more than 500 million rubles.
There are also cross-border emergencies, when, for example, an accident or catastrophe occurs outside the Russian borders, but damaging factors also have a detrimental effect on our territory. A few years ago, a Chinese enterprise leaked poisonous substances, which then ended up in the Russian part of the Amur.
Also, peacetime emergencies are classified according to the nature of the damaging effect (the emergency factor). This point is very important, because it is the nature of the emergency source that determines the nature of the rescue and other urgent activities in the disaster zone. The source of distress can be:
- thermal;
- mechanical;
- biological;
- radiation;
- chemical.
According to the nature of occurrence, emergencies are divided into:
- natural;
- technogenic;
- environmental;
- social;
- combined.
According to the speed of development of events, emergencies are:
- sudden - earthquakes, explosions, transport accidents;
- rapid - fires, emissions of radioactive or toxic substances;
- moderate - floods, volcanic eruptions.
Natural emergencies: general description and features
The most extensive class of emergencies, which includes disasters caused by the elemental forces of nature. This group includes earthquakes, droughts, tornadoes, mudflows, dust storms, hurricanes, snow avalanches in the mountains, volcanic eruptions and much more. It is so numerous that for convenience it has been divided into several subgroups.
For example, there are emergencies caused by hydrometeorological phenomena, such as strong winds, excessive precipitation, snowfalls, droughts, etc. The Roshydrometeorological center is engaged in the prevention of emergencies of this type in our country.
Climatic natural phenomena are the most common cause of emergencies on the planet. Moreover, it is they who are responsible for most of the victims that occur in natural emergencies. According to the UN, this figure reaches 90%.
The second type of natural emergencies are dangerous geophysical events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. They have no equal in destructive power. A strong earthquake may well destroy a large city, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people. Volcanoes have no less destructive power - the fate of the Roman city of Pompeii is a clear proof of this.
Unfortunately, we cannot yet confidently predict such destructive natural phenomena, so protecting the population and territories from emergencies of this type is very difficult. It remains only to deal with their consequences. Almost 40% of the territory of Russia belongs to the zone of increased seismic hazard, and earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7-8 points can occur on 9%.
Another dangerous subgroup of natural emergencies are geological emergencies. These include landslides, mudflows, soil subsidence, avalanches, dust storms.
A separate subgroup of natural emergencies includes various marine natural phenomena: typhoons, tsunamis, severe storms, intense ice drift. It is clear that such emergencies are dangerous for coastal areas, in addition, they cause significant damage to shipping and marine fisheries.
Also, natural emergencies include massive damage to agricultural animals and plants by various diseases or pests. Although these emergencies do not lead to the death of people and the destruction of material objects, they are fraught with significant economic losses. Veterinary services are involved in the prevention and control of such emergencies of this type.
Wildfires are a traditional natural emergency in Russia. This is facilitated by the vast areas of forests in our country. From 10 to 30 thousand fires of various sizes and complexity are recorded annually. They cause great damage to the economy of the country.
Technogenic emergencies, their description and features
Man-caused emergencies include emergencies associated with emergency situations at various technical facilities: factories, power plants, pipelines, storage facilities, transport, etc. This group is also quite numerous and heterogeneous. It includes various types of emergencies, differing both in their nature (affecting factors) and in scale.
The most complex and dangerous accidents are those that can lead to the release of toxic chemicals or radioactive substances. Such incidents pose a significant threat to human health and the natural environment. Leaks of biologically hazardous substances are no less dangerous.
Technogenic emergencies include transport accidents, fires at industrial facilities, collapse of buildings and structures.
Emergencies associated with the critical infrastructure of settlements are especially dangerous: accidents in power grids, urban sewage treatment plants, heating networks, etc. A modern person is very dependent on all this, a power outage in a big city for at least a day completely disrupts the normal rhythm of his life. Such emergencies are by no means uncommon.
Another type of dangerous man-made emergencies is accidents at hydraulic structures: dams, dams. They can lead to numerous casualties and flooding of large areas.
Ecological emergencies and their impact on flora and fauna
Environmental emergencies - the creation of a situation in a certain area that has a detrimental effect on the flora and fauna, as well as the general state of the aquatic and air environment. The cause of this type of emergency can be a serious man-made accident or a natural disaster, inefficient (or even simply barbaric) human economic activity.
An example of a man-made accident that led to the emergence of an environmental emergency can be the tragic events at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which resulted in the alienation of vast territories. However, the thoughtless attitude of man to nature leads to disasters and emergencies much more often than accidents. For example, mining is the cause of subsidence, landslides and landslides, while deforestation reduces biodiversity, causes mudflows and floods. Large-scale emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can seriously raise the level of the World Ocean and flood coastal areas.
Social emergencies
This type of emergency occurs as a result of acute conflict between social groups. The reasons for such a disaster are completely different: political or religious contradictions, the difficult economic situation in the country, social injustice. Social emergencies include revolutions, riots, armed conflicts.
Terrorism, which is considered a peculiar form of political struggle, is also often referred to as social emergencies. The consequences of terrorist attacks are very serious, and they not only cause material damage and kill innocent people, but also create an atmosphere of fear and distrust in society. Currently, the problem of global terrorism is very acute, it can be called one of the main challenges of modern civilization.
To prevent terrorist attacks or eliminate their consequences, internal troops and other military formations may be involved.
It is quite difficult to prevent social emergencies, because the causes of their occurrence are very subjective and not always clear. Serious complex work of special services, politicians, doctors, psychologists, and the media is necessary to eliminate and prevent social upheavals. Poverty, unemployment, lack of prospects, inequality and lawlessness are the breeding ground for various social explosions and civil strife.
Combined emergencies
An emergency of this type is a combination of emergency situations of several types described above at once, which are observed in a certain area. Moreover, the combinations are different. Very often man-made or natural emergencies lead to riots or even armed conflicts. For example, one of the prerequisites for the outbreak of unrest in Syria, which then escalated into a civil war, was a significant drought, which led to a shortage and rise in food prices. Similar stories often happened in the past: the immediate cause of the 1917 revolution in Russia was the interruption in the supply of grain to St. Petersburg.
Technogenic accidents often lead to environmental disasters, protests and riots are often observed in areas affected by hostilities.
The combined nature of emergencies greatly complicates the protection of the population and territories from emergency situations and the elimination of its consequences.
Principles of protection of the population in emergency situations
How to protect citizens and minimize damage from emergencies? Is there a single universal recipe for protecting the population from catastrophes and disasters so different in nature? And who is responsible for dealing with emergencies?
In our country, the state policy in the field of protecting the population from emergencies is carried out by a special structure - the Ministry of Emergency Situations. This ministry conducts legal regulation in this area, and also exercises supervision and control in the field of civil defense. It is a paramilitary organization that is allowed to acquire and use weapons.
In 1995, to counteract natural disasters and emergency situations, the RSChS was created - a unified system for the prevention and elimination of emergency situations. It includes the resources and forces of the central authorities, subjects of the Russian Federation and local governments, organizations that deal with the issue of protecting territories and the population from emergencies.
RSChS is aimed at performing two functions:
- disaster prevention and reduction of possible damage from emergencies;
- liquidation of the consequences of emergency situations and carrying out emergency rescue and other necessary work in the emergency zone.
The system for the prevention and liquidation of emergencies has a hierarchical structure, it is divided into several levels. At each of them, management bodies, forces and means have been created to solve the necessary tasks and carry out measures to protect the population and territories.
The most important element in preventing emergencies and dealing with their consequences is civil defense (CS). This is a whole range of measures to protect the population and material values from the dangers arising from military operations or man-made accidents and natural emergencies. Civil defense can be called one of the most important functions of any state, which in its importance is not inferior to supporting an adequate defense capability of the country.
The tasks of civil defense include:
- notification of the population about the possible threat of an enemy attack, the use of weapons of mass destruction by him, man-made accidents, natural disasters and the procedure for actions in such situations;
- preparation of shelters and protective structures;
- providing the population with personal protective equipment;
- if necessary, the civil defense service organizes the evacuation of the population to safe areas;
- ensuring the protection of food supplies, water supply systems, farm animals from contamination with poisonous and radioactive substances, as well as biological agents;
- education of the population in ways of protection in emergency situations;
- Civil defense forces are required to have an advance plan for the defense of a particular territory.
The structure of civil defense is built on the production and territorial principle. The head of any enterprise is also the head of its civil defense. A similar rule applies to administrative-territorial entities. The head of the civil defense is responsible for the readiness of the territory or facility to withstand emergencies, accidents and natural disasters.
Our world is a very dangerous and unpredictable place. A person must remember this and be ready at any moment to confront the formidable forces of nature or machines that have escaped his control. In this matter, the work of state emergency services is, of course, very important, but our ability to face the unfolding elements is much more important.
If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.
An accident is a damage to a machine, machine tool, equipment, building, structure. A production accident is a sudden stoppage of work or a violation of the established production process at industrial enterprises, transport, etc. OE, which lead to damage or destruction of material assets, injury or death of people.
A catastrophe is a major accident with a large loss of life, i.e. an event with very tragic consequences.
The main criterion in distinguishing between accidents and catastrophes is the severity of the consequences and the presence of human casualties. As a rule, major accidents and catastrophes result in fires and explosions, as a result of which industrial and residential buildings are destroyed, machinery and equipment are damaged. In some cases, they cause gas contamination of the atmosphere, spills of oil products, as well as aggressive liquids. The causes of industrial accidents and catastrophes can be natural disasters, defects in the design or construction of structures and installation of technical systems, violations of production technology, rules for the operation of vehicles, equipment, machines, mechanisms. The most common causes of accidents and disasters at OE are violations of the production process and safety rules.
Causes of man-made accidents
The main causes of major man-made accidents and disasters are:
- 1. failure of technical systems due to manufacturing defects and violation of operating modes. Many modern potentially hazardous industries are designed in such a way that the probability of a major accident at them is very high and is estimated at a risk value of 10 -4 or more (unregulated storage and transportation of hazardous chemicals leads to explosions, destruction of high pressure systems, fires, spills of chemically active liquids, emissions gas mixtures, etc.);
- 2. human factor: erroneous actions of technical system operators. Statistics show that more than 60% of accidents occurred as a result of operating personnel errors;
- 3. high energy level of technical systems;
- 4. external negative impacts on energy, transport, etc. objects (shock wave and (or) explosions lead to the destruction of structures).
So, one of the common causes of fires and explosions, especially at oil and gas and chemical production facilities and during the operation of vehicles, are static electricity discharges (a set of phenomena associated with the formation and preservation of a free electric charge on the surface and in the volume of dielectric and semiconductor substances), caused by the processes of electrification. An analysis of the totality of negative factors currently operating in the technosphere shows that anthropogenic negative impacts have the main influence, among which technogenic ones predominate, formed as a result of transforming human activity and changes in biospheric processes caused by this activity. In this case, most of the factors are of the nature of a direct impact (poisons, noise, vibration, etc.). But in recent years, secondary factors (photochemical smog, acid rain, etc.) have become widespread, which arise in the environment as a result of chemical and energy interactions of primary factors with each other or with components of the biosphere. The levels and scale of the impact of negative factors are constantly growing and in a number of regions of the technosphere have reached such values when a person and the natural environment are threatened by the danger of irreversible destructive changes.
Impact on nature
According to the degree of potential danger leading to such disasters in the technogenic sphere of the civil complex, it is possible to single out objects of the nuclear, chemical, metallurgical and mining industries, unique engineering structures (dams, overpasses, oil and gas storage facilities), transport systems (aerospace, surface and underwater, ground), transporting dangerous goods and large masses of people, main gas and oil pipelines. This also includes dangerous objects of the defense complex - rocket-space and aircraft systems with nuclear and conventional warheads, nuclear submarines and surface vessels, large warehouses of conventional and chemical weapons.
Accidents and catastrophes at these facilities can be initiated by dangerous natural phenomena - earthquakes, hurricanes, storms. Technogenic accidents and catastrophes themselves can be accompanied by radiation and chemical damage and contamination, explosions, fires, and collapses.
Accidents at hydraulic structures (accidents at HPPs). Danger of flooding of low nearby areas due to the destruction of dams, dams and waterworks. A swift and powerful stream of water can wash away soils with all vegetation, wash away black soil. There is a risk of mudflows. With sufficiently high waves, animals on the territory of the flood site get out on a hill, they can spend a lot of time there.
Hypothetical severe accidents at nuclear power plants can lead to the formation of a "black pillar", when the emissions from the accident spread in the atmosphere and soils, plants and animals are most affected by radiation. In animals, as in humans, there are cases of radiation sickness. Also, the consequences of radiation are inhibition of vegetation growth, a decrease in animal populations in the nearby territories of the accident. The damaging factors include a shock wave, light radiation, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination of the area and an electromagnetic pulse. The greatest indirect damage will be observed in settlements and in the forest. The light radiation of a nuclear explosion is a stream of radiant energy, including ultraviolet, visible and infrared luminescence.
According to the severity of damage to people from a shock wave, they are divided into: lungs with a high-speed pressure = 20-40 kPa (dislocations, bruises); average at velocity pressure = 40-60 kPa), (concussions, blood from the nose and ears); severe with a velocity head of 60 kPa (severe concussions, damage to hearing and internal organs, loss of consciousness, fractures); lethal at a velocity head of 100 kPa. The light emitted from a nuclear explosion can contribute to fire and fire storms that move very quickly in forest dry zones.
Type of technogenic accidents
1) Transport accidents (catastrophes)
Accidents of freight trains, accidents of passenger trains, metro trains, accidents (catastrophes) on roads (major road accidents), transport accidents on bridges, in tunnels and railway crossings, accidents on main pipelines, accidents of cargo ships (on the sea and rivers) , accidents (catastrophes) of passenger ships (on the sea and rivers), accidents (catastrophes) of submarines, aviation accidents at airports and settlements, aviation accidents outside airports and settlements, ground accidents (catastrophes) of rocket space systems, orbital accidents of spacecraft
2) Fires, explosions, bomb threat
Fires (explosions) in buildings, on communications and technological equipment of industrial facilities, fires (explosions) at production, processing and storage facilities of flammable, combustible and explosive substances, fires (explosions) in mines, underground and mine workings, subways, fires (explosions ) in buildings, residential, social and cultural facilities, fires (explosions) at chemically hazardous facilities, fires (explosions) at radiation hazardous facilities, detection of unexploded ordnance, loss of explosives (ammunition)
3) Accidents with the release (threat of release) of emergency chemically hazardous substances
Accidents with the release (threat of release) of hazardous chemical substances during their production, processing or storage (burial), transport accidents with the release (threat of release) of emergency chemically hazardous substances, the formation and spread of hazardous chemicals in the course of chemical reactions initiated as a result of accidents, accidents with chemical munitions, loss of sources of chemically hazardous substances
4) Accidents with release (threat of release) of radioactive substances
Accidents at nuclear power plants, nuclear power plants for production and research purposes with the release (threat of release) of radioactive substances, accidents with the release (threat of release) of radioactive substances at nuclear fuel cycle enterprises
5) Accidents with release (threat of release) of radioactive substances
Accidents of vehicles and space vehicles with nuclear installations or a cargo of radioactive substances on board, accidents during industrial and test nuclear explosions with the release (threat of release) of radioactive substances, accidents with nuclear munitions in their storage or installation sites, loss of radioactive sources
6) Accidents with the release (threat of release) of biologically hazardous substances
Accidents with the release (threat of release) of biologically hazardous substances at industrial enterprises and research institutions (laboratories), transport accidents with the release (threat of release) of biological substances, loss of biologically hazardous substances
7) Hydrodynamic accidents
Breaks of dams (dams, sluices, dams) with the formation of waves of breakthrough and catastrophic floods and resulting in the washout of fertile soils or the deposition of sediments over vast areas
8) Sudden collapse of buildings, structures
Collapse of industrial buildings and structures, collapse of buildings and structures for residential, social and cultural purposes, collapse of elements of transport communications
9) Accidents on electric power systems
Accidents at autonomous power plants with a long-term interruption of power supply to all consumers, failure of transport electrical contact networks
10) Accidents on communal life support systems
Accidents in sewer systems with massive emissions of pollutants, accidents in heating networks (hot water supply system) during cold weather, accidents in drinking water supply systems for the population, accidents in public gas pipelines
11) Accidents at industrial wastewater treatment plants
Accidents at wastewater treatment plants of industrial enterprises with massive emissions of pollutants.
SecurityAbout 2,300 high-risk facilities are operated on the territory of Russia. Accidents and catastrophes occur on average once every 10-15 years with damage of more than 2 million dollars, once every 8-12 months with damage up to 1 million dollars, and once every 15-45 days with damage up to 100 thousand dollars .
The main objects that account for most of the emergencies are radiation, chemical, fire and explosive objects.
The Russian Federation operates 11 nuclear power plants with 34 reactors with a total capacity of 18,213 MW. Another 6 nuclear power plants are under construction. More than 1 million people live only in the 30-kilometer zone around the operating nuclear power plants. As a result of radiation accidents that occurred in different years in Kyshtym at the NPO Mayak and in Chernobyl in Russia, by now the total area of zones of radioactive contamination of the area within the outer boundaries of the zones of strict control reaches 32 thousand square kilometers.
Another source of danger is the chemical industry. There are more than 1,900 chemically hazardous facilities in the Russian Federation, located mainly in nine regions (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Bashkir, Volga, North Caucasian, Ural, Kemerovo and Angarsk) with a population of about 39 million people in danger zones. The most dangerous chemical situation is in Moscow, Volgograd, Dzerzhinsk, Irkutsk, Samara, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Ufa and Chelyabinsk). Every year, about 1,500 uncategorized accidents occur in the chemical industries associated with the leakage of explosive and hazardous products with fires, explosions and emissions.
On the territory of 5 regions (Samara, Saratov, Tombov, Voronezh and Belgorod) there is an ammonia pipeline Tolyatti - Odessa with a length of 1252 km, which simultaneously holds 125 thousand tons of a highly toxic substance - ammonia
Oil and gas fields, as well as pipelines, pose a great potential danger on the territory of the country: Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod, Urengoy-Pokrovsk-Novomoskovsk, Saratov-N.Novgorod and others. The total length of gas pipelines is more than 300 thousand km.
Russian railways continue to be a source of danger, on which about 1000 accidents and incidents are recorded annually during the transportation of dangerous goods.
In total, more than 1,300 emergencies occur annually on the territory of the Russian Federation due to man-made causes, in the largest of which about 1,500 people die, and 25,000 people are affected to one degree or another. The material damage from these emergencies is more than 1 billion dollars. These losses, according to the Russian Academy of Sciences, increase every year by an average of 10%.
In the technogenic sphere, a high level of accidents remains, and for certain types of industries, its growth is observed, including life support systems, main pipelines. This is due to the growth in the scale and complexity of production and the accompanying presence of a large number of unfavorable factors:
irrational, from the point of view of technogenic safety, placement of potentially hazardous facilities throughout the country;
low rates of introduction of resource- and energy-saving, other technically advanced and safe technologies;
miscalculations in the technical policy of design, construction, modernization and operation of potentially hazardous facilities;
insufficient development of transport and other communication networks of the country;
significant progressive depreciation of fixed production assets, reaching 80-100% in a number of industries;
decrease in the professional level of employees and production discipline; the decline of design and engineering and the quality of work;
increase in production, transportation, storage, other use of hazardous (harmful) substances, materials and products;
the absence or low quality of systems for monitoring the situation by hazardous factors and warning about it, systems for diagnosing, localizing or suppressing emergency situations, and other technological safety systems;
a decrease in the level of safety precautions, a lack of personnel protection equipment; a reduction in the number of employees in the field of security and facility emergency services;
incomplete construction and ineffective functioning of systems for declaring, licensing and insuring potentially hazardous activities; insufficient coverage of projects of potentially hazardous facilities by expertise.
Another source of constant danger to a large part of the population are natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, mudflows, natural fires, etc. The most common natural hazards in the world are: tropical storms and floods (32% each), earthquakes (12%), droughts - 10% other natural processes (14% ). Among the continents of the world, the most exposed to hazardous natural processes are:
Asia (38%)
North and South America (26%),
Africa (14%),
Europe (14%)
Oceania (8%).
More than 30 types of hazardous natural phenomena are observed on the territory of Russia 1 . The greatest damage in Russia is caused by various floods.
Territories subject to the action of settlement flows are Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, as well as Magadan, Sakhalin and Kamchatka regions.
In addition, earthquakes have negative, often catastrophic consequences. Such disasters for the territory of Russia are typical in such seismically hazardous areas as the North Caucasus, Transbaikalia, Primorye, Sakhalin, the Kuriles and Kamchatka.
In the Russian Federation, the trend of an annual increase in the number of emergencies caused by natural hazards, natural disasters, accidents and man-made disasters continues to persist. The damage from these incidents is growing. Significant sanitary and irretrievable losses of the population remain. Damage to the natural environment.
The main reasons for the persistence and aggravation of a significant natural hazard are:
an increase in anthropogenic impact on the environment, provoking or intensifying the negative consequences of hazardous natural phenomena;
change in some parameters of the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and land;
irrational placement of objects of economic activity and resettlement of people in areas of potential natural hazard;
insufficient efficiency, underdevelopment or lack of environmental monitoring systems, weakening of state systems for monitoring volcanic, seismic, exogenous processes, hydrometeorological and heliophysical phenomena;
low reliability of forecasting natural hazards, lack of theoretical or practical ability to predict some of them;
the absence or poor condition of hydraulic engineering, anti-landslide, anti-mudflow and other protective engineering structures, as well as protective forest plantations;
insufficient volumes and low rates of earthquake-resistant construction, strengthening of buildings and structures in earthquake-prone areas;
curtailment of measures taken to reduce the accumulating threatening potential of some hazardous natural phenomena (prevention of hail, preventive avalanches, etc.);
decrease in the activity of specialized state services for carrying out sanitary-epidemiological, veterinary-epizootic and other preventive measures in the field of infectious diseases and the spread of pests;
incompleteness and insufficient detailing of the zoning of the country's territory according to the criteria of natural hazard, the absence or insufficiency of inventories of potentially hazardous areas (regularly flooded, especially seismic, mudflow, avalanche, landslide, karst, tsunami, etc.).
The risk of man-made disasters and the magnitude of economic and social damage from any emergency situations increase:
as the number of potentially hazardous facilities in the country increases;
lack of funds from the state and the population itself to prevent accidents;
insufficient development of infrastructure to ensure the timely implementation of rescue activities;
low professionalism of specialists and insufficient coordination of departments responsible for security.
The problem of prevention and elimination of natural and man-made emergencies remains very relevant.
Figure 1. Forecast of natural and man-made emergencies in the territory of the Russian Federation for 2012
Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia notes increased risks in 2012 strong earthquakes magnitude over 7.5 in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the Kamchatka Territory, which can cause a tsunami up to 8 meters high, is predicted in the spring of 2012 difficult flood conditions on the territory of the Siberian and Volga federal districts due to low water levels in the rivers.
