Sample records for accident analysis codes

  1. Analysis of unmitigated large break loss of coolant accidents using MELCOR code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pescarini, M.; Mascari, F.; Mostacci, D.; De Rosa, F.; Lombardo, C.; Giannetti, F.

    2017-11-01

    In the framework of severe accident research activity developed by ENEA, a MELCOR nodalization of a generic Pressurized Water Reactor of 900 MWe has been developed. The aim of this paper is to present the analysis of MELCOR code calculations concerning two independent unmitigated large break loss of coolant accident transients, occurring in the cited type of reactor. In particular, the analysis and comparison between the transients initiated by an unmitigated double-ended cold leg rupture and an unmitigated double-ended hot leg rupture in the loop 1 of the primary cooling system is presented herein. This activity has been performed focusing specifically on the in-vessel phenomenology that characterizes this kind of accidents. The analysis of the thermal-hydraulic transient phenomena and the core degradation phenomena is therefore here presented. The analysis of the calculated data shows the capability of the code to reproduce the phenomena typical of these transients and permits their phenomenological study. A first sequence of main events is here presented and shows that the cold leg break transient results faster than the hot leg break transient because of the position of the break. Further analyses are in progress to quantitatively assess the results of the code nodalization for accident management strategy definition and fission product source term evaluation.

  2. Interface requirements to couple thermal hydraulics codes to severe accident codes: ICARE/CATHARE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Camous, F.; Jacq, F.; Chatelard, P.

    1997-07-01

    In order to describe with the same code the whole sequence of severe LWR accidents, up to the vessel failure, the Institute of Protection and Nuclear Safety has performed a coupling of the severe accident code ICARE2 to the thermalhydraulics code CATHARE2. The resulting code, ICARE/CATHARE, is designed to be as pertinent as possible in all the phases of the accident. This paper is mainly devoted to the description of the ICARE2-CATHARE2 coupling.

  3. Insights Gained from Forensic Analysis with MELCOR of the Fukushima-Daiichi Accidents.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrews, Nathan C.; Gauntt, Randall O.

    Since the accidents at Fukushima-Daiichi, Sandia National Laboratories has been modeling these accident scenarios using the severe accident analysis code, MELCOR. MELCOR is a widely used computer code developed at Sandia National Laboratories since ~1982 for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Insights from the modeling of these accidents is being used to better inform future code development and potentially improved accident management. To date, our necessity to better capture in-vessel thermal-hydraulic and ex-vessel melt coolability and concrete interactions has led to the implementation of new models. The most recent analyses, presented in this paper, have been in support of themore » of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency’s (OECD/NEA) Benchmark Study of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (BSAF) Project. The goal of this project is to accurately capture the source term from all three releases and then model the atmospheric dispersion. In order to do this, a forensic approach is being used in which available plant data and release timings is being used to inform the modeled MELCOR accident scenario. For example, containment failures, core slumping events and lower head failure timings are all enforced parameters in these analyses. This approach is fundamentally different from a blind code assessment analysis often used in standard problem exercises. The timings of these events are informed by representative spikes or decreases in plant data. The combination of improvements to the MELCOR source code resulting from analysis previous accident analysis and this forensic approach has allowed Sandia to generate representative and plausible source terms for all three accidents at Fukushima Daiichi out to three weeks after the accident to capture both early and late releases. In particular, using the source terms developed by MELCOR, the MACCS software code, which models atmospheric dispersion

  4. BESAFE II: Accident safety analysis code for MFE reactor designs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sevigny, Lawrence Michael

    The viability of controlled thermonuclear fusion as an alternative energy source hinges on its desirability from an economic and an environmental and safety standpoint. It is the latter which is the focus of this thesis. For magnetic fusion energy (MFE) devices, the safety concerns equate to a design's behavior during a worst-case accident scenario which is the loss of coolant accident (LOCA). In this dissertation, we examine the behavior of MFE devices during a LOCA and how this behavior relates to the safety characteristics of the machine; in particular the acute, whole-body, early dose. In doing so, we have produced an accident safety code, BESAFE II, now available to the fusion reactor design community. The Appendix constitutes the User's Manual for BESAFE II. The theory behind early dose calculations including the mobilization of activation products is presented in Chapter 2. Since mobilization of activation products is a strong function of temperature, it becomes necessary to calculate the thermal response of a design during a LOCA in order to determine the fraction of the activation products which are mobilized and thus become the source for the dose. The code BESAFE II is designed to determine the temperature history of each region of a design and determine the resulting mobilization of activation products at each point in time during the LOCA. The BESAFE II methodology is discussed in Chapter 4, followed by demonstrations of its use for two reference design cases: a PCA-Li tokamak and a SiC-He tokamak. Of these two cases, it is shown that the SiC-He tokamak is a better design from an accident safety standpoint than the PCA-Li tokamak. It is also found that doses derived from temperature-dependent mobilization data are different than those predicted using set mobilization categories such as those that involve Piet fractions. This demonstrates the need for more experimental data on fusion materials. The possibility for future improvements and modifications

  5. Analysis of typical WWER-1000 severe accident scenarios

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sorokin, Yu.S.; Shchekoldin, V.V.; Borisov, L.N.

    2004-07-01

    At present in EDO 'Gidropress' there is a certain experience of performing the analyses of severe accidents of reactor plant with WWER with application of domestic and foreign codes. Important data were also obtained by the results of calculation modeling of integrated experiments with fuel assembly melting comprising a real fuel. Systematization and consideration of these data in development and assimilation of codes are extremely important in connection with large uncertainty still existing in understanding and adequate description of phenomenology of severe accidents. The presented report gives a comparison of analysis results of severe accidents of reactor plant with WWER-1000more » for two typical scenarios made by using American MELCOR code and the Russian RATEG/SVECHA/HEFEST code. The results of calculation modeling are compared using above codes with the data of experiment FPT1 with fuel assembly melting comprising a real fuel, which has been carried out at the facility Phebus (France). The obtained results are considered in the report from the viewpoint of: - adequacy of results of calculation modeling of separate phenomena during severe accidents of RP with WWER by using the above codes; - influence of uncertainties (degree of details of calculation models, choice of parameters of models etc.); - choice of those or other setup variables (options) in the used codes; - necessity of detailed modeling of processes and phenomena as applied to design justification of safety of RP with WWER. (authors)« less

  6. Reactivity Insertion Accident (RIA) Capability Status in the BISON Fuel Performance Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Williamson, Richard L.; Folsom, Charles Pearson; Pastore, Giovanni

    2016-05-01

    One of the Challenge Problems being considered within CASL relates to modelling and simulation of Light Water Reactor LWR) fuel under Reactivity Insertion Accident (RIA) conditions. BISON is the fuel performance code used within CASL for LWR fuel under both normal operating and accident conditions, and thus must be capable of addressing the RIA challenge problem. This report outlines required BISON capabilities for RIAs and describes the current status of the code. Information on recent accident capability enhancements, application of BISON to a RIA benchmark exercise, and plans for validation to RIA behavior are included.

  7. Development of Database for Accident Analysis in Indian Mines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tripathy, Debi Prasad; Guru Raghavendra Reddy, K.

    2016-10-01

    Mining is a hazardous industry and high accident rates associated with underground mining is a cause of deep concern. Technological developments notwithstanding, rate of fatal accidents and reportable incidents have not shown corresponding levels of decline. This paper argues that adoption of appropriate safety standards by both mine management and the government may result in appreciable reduction in accident frequency. This can be achieved by using the technology in improving the working conditions, sensitising workers and managers about causes and prevention of accidents. Inputs required for a detailed analysis of an accident include information on location, time, type, cost of accident, victim, nature of injury, personal and environmental factors etc. Such information can be generated from data available in the standard coded accident report form. This paper presents a web based application for accident analysis in Indian mines during 2001-2013. An accident database (SafeStat) prototype based on Intranet of the TCP/IP agreement, as developed by the authors, is also discussed.

  8. Police accident report forms: safety device coding and enacted laws.

    PubMed

    Brock, K; Lapidus, G

    2008-12-01

    Safety device coding on state police accident report (PAR) forms was compared with provisions in state traffic safety laws. PAR forms were obtained from all 50 states and the District of Columbia (states/DC). For seat belts, 22 states/DC had a primary seat belt enforcement law vs 50 with a PAR code. For car seats, all 51 states/DC had a law and a PAR code. For booster seats, 39 states/DC had a law vs nine with a PAR code. For motorcycle helmets, 21 states/DC had an all-age rider helmet law and another 26 a partial-age law vs 50 with a PAR code. For bicycle helmets, 21 states/DC had a partial-age rider helmet law vs 48 with a PAR code. Therefore gaps in the ability of states to fully record accident data reflective of existing state traffic safety laws are revealed. Revising the PAR forms in all states to include complete variables for safety devices should be an important priority, independent of the laws.

  9. Code manual for CONTAIN 2.0: A computer code for nuclear reactor containment analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Murata, K.K.; Williams, D.C.; Griffith, R.O.

    1997-12-01

    The CONTAIN 2.0 computer code is an integrated analysis tool used for predicting the physical conditions, chemical compositions, and distributions of radiological materials inside a containment building following the release of material from the primary system in a light-water reactor accident. It can also predict the source term to the environment. CONTAIN 2.0 is intended to replace the earlier CONTAIN 1.12, which was released in 1991. The purpose of this Code Manual is to provide full documentation of the features and models in CONTAIN 2.0. Besides complete descriptions of the models, this Code Manual provides a complete description of themore » input and output from the code. CONTAIN 2.0 is a highly flexible and modular code that can run problems that are either quite simple or highly complex. An important aspect of CONTAIN is that the interactions among thermal-hydraulic phenomena, aerosol behavior, and fission product behavior are taken into account. The code includes atmospheric models for steam/air thermodynamics, intercell flows, condensation/evaporation on structures and aerosols, aerosol behavior, and gas combustion. It also includes models for reactor cavity phenomena such as core-concrete interactions and coolant pool boiling. Heat conduction in structures, fission product decay and transport, radioactive decay heating, and the thermal-hydraulic and fission product decontamination effects of engineered safety features are also modeled. To the extent possible, the best available models for severe accident phenomena have been incorporated into CONTAIN, but it is intrinsic to the nature of accident analysis that significant uncertainty exists regarding numerous phenomena. In those cases, sensitivity studies can be performed with CONTAIN by means of user-specified input parameters. Thus, the code can be viewed as a tool designed to assist the knowledge reactor safety analyst in evaluating the consequences of specific modeling assumptions.« less

  10. Accident Analysis for the NIST Research Reactor Before and After Fuel Conversion

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baek J.; Diamond D.; Cuadra, A.

    Postulated accidents have been analyzed for the 20 MW D2O-moderated research reactor (NBSR) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The analysis has been carried out for the present core, which contains high enriched uranium (HEU) fuel and for a proposed equilibrium core with low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The analyses employ state-of-the-art calculational methods. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations were performed with the MCNPX code to determine homogenized fuel compositions in the lower and upper halves of each fuel element and to determine the resulting neutronic properties of the core. The accident analysis employed a modelmore » of the primary loop with the RELAP5 code. The model includes the primary pumps, shutdown pumps outlet valves, heat exchanger, fuel elements, and flow channels for both the six inner and twenty-four outer fuel elements. Evaluations were performed for the following accidents: (1) control rod withdrawal startup accident, (2) maximum reactivity insertion accident, (3) loss-of-flow accident resulting from loss of electrical power with an assumption of failure of shutdown cooling pumps, (4) loss-of-flow accident resulting from a primary pump seizure, and (5) loss-of-flow accident resulting from inadvertent throttling of a flow control valve. In addition, natural circulation cooling at low power operation was analyzed. The analysis shows that the conversion will not lead to significant changes in the safety analysis and the calculated minimum critical heat flux ratio and maximum clad temperature assure that there is adequate margin to fuel failure.« less

  11. MODELLING OF FUEL BEHAVIOUR DURING LOSS-OF-COOLANT ACCIDENTS USING THE BISON CODE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pastore, G.; Novascone, S. R.; Williamson, R. L.

    2015-09-01

    This work presents recent developments to extend the BISON code to enable fuel performance analysis during LOCAs. This newly developed capability accounts for the main physical phenomena involved, as well as the interactions among them and with the global fuel rod thermo-mechanical analysis. Specifically, new multiphysics models are incorporated in the code to describe (1) transient fission gas behaviour, (2) rapid steam-cladding oxidation, (3) Zircaloy solid-solid phase transition, (4) hydrogen generation and transport through the cladding, and (5) Zircaloy high-temperature non-linear mechanical behaviour and failure. Basic model characteristics are described, and a demonstration BISON analysis of a LWR fuel rodmore » undergoing a LOCA accident is presented. Also, as a first step of validation, the code with the new capability is applied to the simulation of experiments investigating cladding behaviour under LOCA conditions. The comparison of the results with the available experimental data of cladding failure due to burst is presented.« less

  12. Evaluation of severe accident risks: Quantification of major input parameters: MAACS (MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System) input

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sprung, J.L.; Jow, H-N; Rollstin, J.A.

    1990-12-01

    Estimation of offsite accident consequences is the customary final step in a probabilistic assessment of the risks of severe nuclear reactor accidents. Recently, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reassessed the risks of severe accidents at five US power reactors (NUREG-1150). Offsite accident consequences for NUREG-1150 source terms were estimated using the MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS). Before these calculations were performed, most MACCS input parameters were reviewed, and for each parameter reviewed, a best-estimate value was recommended. This report presents the results of these reviews. Specifically, recommended values and the basis for their selection are presented for MACCS atmospheric andmore » biospheric transport, emergency response, food pathway, and economic input parameters. Dose conversion factors and health effect parameters are not reviewed in this report. 134 refs., 15 figs., 110 tabs.« less

  13. Analysis of construction accidents in Spain, 2003-2008.

    PubMed

    López Arquillos, Antonio; Rubio Romero, Juan Carlos; Gibb, Alistair

    2012-12-01

    The research objective for this paper is to obtain a new extended and updated insight to the likely causes of construction accidents in Spain, in order to identify suitable mitigating actions. The paper analyzes all construction sector accidents in Spain between 2003 and 2008. Ten variables were chosen and the influence of each variable is evaluated with respect to the severity of the accident. The descriptive analysis is based on a total of 1,163,178 accidents. Results showed that the severity of accidents was related to variables including age, CNAE (National Classification of Economic Activities) code, size of company, length of service, location of accident, day of the week, days of absence, deviation, injury, and climatic zones. According to data analyzed, a large company is not always necessarily safer than a small company in the aspect of fatal accidents, experienced workers do not have the best accident fatality rates, and accidents occurring away from the usual workplace had more severe consequences. Results obtained in this paper can be used by companies in their occupational safety strategies, and in their safety training programs. Copyright © 2012 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Current and anticipated use of thermal-hydraulic codes for BWR transient and accident analyses in Japan

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arai, Kenji; Ebata, Shigeo

    1997-07-01

    This paper summarizes the current and anticipated use of the thermal-hydraulic and neutronic codes for the BWR transient and accident analyses in Japan. The codes may be categorized into the licensing codes and the best estimate codes for the BWR transient and accident analyses. Most of the licensing codes have been originally developed by General Electric. Some codes have been updated based on the technical knowledge obtained in the thermal hydraulic study in Japan, and according to the BWR design changes. The best estimates codes have been used to support the licensing calculations and to obtain the phenomenological understanding ofmore » the thermal hydraulic phenomena during a BWR transient or accident. The best estimate codes can be also applied to a design study for a next generation BWR to which the current licensing model may not be directly applied. In order to rationalize the margin included in the current BWR design and develop a next generation reactor with appropriate design margin, it will be required to improve the accuracy of the thermal-hydraulic and neutronic model. In addition, regarding the current best estimate codes, the improvement in the user interface and the numerics will be needed.« less

  15. Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis -- Uncertainty assessment for internal dosimetry. Volume 2: Appendices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goossens, L.H.J.; Kraan, B.C.P.; Cooke, R.M.

    1998-04-01

    The development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS and COSYMA, was completed in 1990. These codes estimate the consequence from the accidental releases of radiological material from hypothesized accidents at nuclear installations. In 1991, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Commission of the European Communities began cosponsoring a joint uncertainty analysis of the two codes. The ultimate objective of this joint effort was to systematically develop credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for the respective code input variables. A formal expert judgment elicitation and evaluation process was identified as the best technology available for developing a library ofmore » uncertainty distributions for these consequence parameters. This report focuses on the results of the study to develop distribution for variables related to the MACCS and COSYMA internal dosimetry models. This volume contains appendices that include (1) a summary of the MACCS and COSYMA consequence codes, (2) the elicitation questionnaires and case structures, (3) the rationales and results for the panel on internal dosimetry, (4) short biographies of the experts, and (5) the aggregated results of their responses.« less

  16. Road Traffic Accident Analysis of Ajmer City Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhalla, P.; Tripathi, S.; Palria, S.

    2014-12-01

    With advancement in technology, new and sophisticated models of vehicle are available and their numbers are increasing day by day. A traffic accident has multi-facet characteristics associated with it. In India 93% of crashes occur due to Human induced factor (wholly or partly). For proper traffic accident analysis use of GIS technology has become an inevitable tool. The traditional accident database is a summary spreadsheet format using codes and mileposts to denote location, type and severity of accidents. Geo-referenced accident database is location-referenced. It incorporates a GIS graphical interface with the accident information to allow for query searches on various accident attributes. Ajmer city, headquarter of Ajmer district, Rajasthan has been selected as the study area. According to Police records, 1531 accidents occur during 2009-2013. Maximum accident occurs in 2009 and the maximum death in 2013. Cars, jeeps, auto, pickup and tempo are mostly responsible for accidents and that the occurrence of accidents is mostly concentrated between 4PM to 10PM. GIS has proved to be a good tool for analyzing multifaceted nature of accidents. While road safety is a critical issue, yet it is handled in an adhoc manner. This Study is a demonstration of application of GIS for developing an efficient database on road accidents taking Ajmer City as a study. If such type of database is developed for other cities, a proper analysis of accidents can be undertaken and suitable management strategies for traffic regulation can be successfully proposed.

  17. Applying STAMP in Accident Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leveson, Nancy; Daouk, Mirna; Dulac, Nicolas; Marais, Karen

    2003-01-01

    Accident models play a critical role in accident investigation and analysis. Most traditional models are based on an underlying chain of events. These models, however, have serious limitations when used for complex, socio-technical systems. Previously, Leveson proposed a new accident model (STAMP) based on system theory. In STAMP, the basic concept is not an event but a constraint. This paper shows how STAMP can be applied to accident analysis using three different views or models of the accident process and proposes a notation for describing this process.

  18. System analysis with improved thermo-mechanical fuel rod models for modeling current and advanced LWR materials in accident scenarios

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Porter, Ian Edward

    A nuclear reactor systems code has the ability to model the system response in an accident scenario based on known initial conditions at the onset of the transient. However, there has been a tendency for these codes to lack the detailed thermo-mechanical fuel rod response models needed for accurate prediction of fuel rod failure. This proposed work will couple today's most widely used steady-state (FRAPCON) and transient (FRAPTRAN) fuel rod models with a systems code TRACE for best-estimate modeling of system response in accident scenarios such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). In doing so, code modifications will be made to model gamma heating in LWRs during steady-state and accident conditions and to improve fuel rod thermal/mechanical analysis by allowing axial nodalization of burnup-dependent phenomena such as swelling, cladding creep and oxidation. With the ability to model both burnup-dependent parameters and transient fuel rod response, a fuel dispersal study will be conducted using a hypothetical accident scenario under both PWR and BWR conditions to determine the amount of fuel dispersed under varying conditions. Due to the fuel fragmentation size and internal rod pressure both being dependent on burnup, this analysis will be conducted at beginning, middle and end of cycle to examine the effects that cycle time can play on fuel rod failure and dispersal. Current fuel rod and system codes used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are compilations of legacy codes with only commonly used light water reactor materials, Uranium Dioxide (UO2), Mixed Oxide (U/PuO 2) and zirconium alloys. However, the events at Fukushima Daiichi and Three Mile Island accident have shown the need for exploration into advanced materials possessing improved accident tolerance. This work looks to further modify the NRC codes to include silicon carbide (SiC), an advanced cladding material proposed by current DOE funded research on accident tolerant fuels (ATF). Several

  19. Methods for nuclear air-cleaning-system accident-consequence assessment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrae, R.W.; Bolstad, J.W.; Gregory, W.S.

    1982-01-01

    This paper describes a multilaboratory research program that is directed toward addressing many questions that analysts face when performing air cleaning accident consequence assessments. The program involves developing analytical tools and supportive experimental data that will be useful in making more realistic assessments of accident source terms within and up to the atmospheric boundaries of nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The types of accidents considered in this study includes fires, explosions, spills, tornadoes, criticalities, and equipment failures. The main focus of the program is developing an accident analysis handbook (AAH). We will describe the contents of the AAH, which include descriptionsmore » of selected nuclear fuel cycle facilities, process unit operations, source-term development, and accident consequence analyses. Three computer codes designed to predict gas and material propagation through facility air cleaning systems are described. These computer codes address accidents involving fires (FIRAC), explosions (EXPAC), and tornadoes (TORAC). The handbook relies on many illustrative examples to show the analyst how to approach accident consequence assessments. We will use the FIRAC code and a hypothetical fire scenario to illustrate the accident analysis capability.« less

  20. ADAM: An Accident Diagnostic,Analysis and Management System - Applications to Severe Accident Simulation and Management

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zavisca, M.J.; Khatib-Rahbar, M.; Esmaili, H.

    2002-07-01

    The Accident Diagnostic, Analysis and Management (ADAM) computer code has been developed as a tool for on-line applications to accident diagnostics, simulation, management and training. ADAM's severe accident simulation capabilities incorporate a balance of mechanistic, phenomenologically based models with simple parametric approaches for elements including (but not limited to) thermal hydraulics; heat transfer; fuel heatup, meltdown, and relocation; fission product release and transport; combustible gas generation and combustion; and core-concrete interaction. The overall model is defined by a relatively coarse spatial nodalization of the reactor coolant and containment systems and is advanced explicitly in time. The result is to enablemore » much faster than real time (i.e., 100 to 1000 times faster than real time on a personal computer) applications to on-line investigations and/or accident management training. Other features of the simulation module include provision for activation of water injection, including the Engineered Safety Features, as well as other mechanisms for the assessment of accident management and recovery strategies and the evaluation of PSA success criteria. The accident diagnostics module of ADAM uses on-line access to selected plant parameters (as measured by plant sensors) to compute the thermodynamic state of the plant, and to predict various margins to safety (e.g., times to pressure vessel saturation and steam generator dryout). Rule-based logic is employed to classify the measured data as belonging to one of a number of likely scenarios based on symptoms, and a number of 'alarms' are generated to signal the state of the reactor and containment. This paper will address the features and limitations of ADAM with particular focus on accident simulation and management. (authors)« less

  1. Single pilot IFR accident data analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harris, D. F.

    1983-01-01

    The aircraft accident data recorded by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSR) for 1964-1979 were analyzed to determine what problems exist in the general aviation (GA) single pilot instrument flight rule (SPIFR) environment. A previous study conducted in 1978 for the years 1964-1975 provided a basis for comparison. This effort was generally limited to SPIFR pilot error landing phase accidents but includes some SPIFR takeoff and enroute accident analysis as well as some dual pilot IFR accident analysis for comparison. Analysis was performed for 554 accidents of which 39% (216) occurred during the years 1976-1979.

  2. Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis -- Late health effects uncertain assessment. Volume 2: Appendices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Little, M.P.; Muirhead, C.R.; Goossens, L.H.J.

    1997-12-01

    The development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS and COSYMA, was completed in 1990. These codes estimate the consequence from the accidental releases of radiological material from hypothesized accidents at nuclear installations. In 1991, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Commission of the European Communities began cosponsoring a joint uncertainty analysis of the two codes. The ultimate objective of this joint effort was to systematically develop credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for the respective code input variables. A formal expert judgment elicitation and evaluation process was identified as the best technology available for developing a library ofmore » uncertainty distributions for these consequence parameters. This report focuses on the results of the study to develop distribution for variables related to the MACCS and COSYMA late health effects models. This volume contains appendices that include (1) a summary of the MACCS and COSYMA consequence codes, (2) the elicitation questionnaires and case structures, (3) the rationales and results for the expert panel on late health effects, (4) short biographies of the experts, and (5) the aggregated results of their responses.« less

  3. A new approach to modeling aviation accidents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rao, Arjun Harsha

    views aviation accidents as a set of hazardous states of a system (pilot and aircraft), and triggers that cause the system to move between hazardous states. I used the NTSB's accident coding manual (that contains nearly 4000 different codes) to develop a "dictionary" of hazardous states, triggers, and information codes. Then, I created the "grammar", or a set of rules, that: (1) orders the hazardous states in each accident; and, (2) links the hazardous states using the appropriate triggers. This approach: (1) provides a more correct count of the causes for accidents in the NTSB database; and, (2) checks for gaps or omissions in NTSB accident data, and fills in some of these gaps using logic-based rules. These rules also help identify and count causes for accidents that were not discernable from previous analyses of historical accident data. I apply the model to 6200 helicopter accidents that occurred in the US between 1982 and 2015. First, I identify the states and triggers that are most likely to be associated with fatal and non-fatal accidents. The results suggest that non-fatal accidents, which account for approximately 84% of the accidents, provide valuable opportunities to learn about the causes for accidents. Next, I investigate the causes of inflight loss of control using both a conventional approach and using the state-based approach. The conventional analysis provides little insight into the causal mechanism for LOC. For instance, the top cause of LOC is "aircraft control/directional control not maintained", which does not provide any insight. In contrast, the state-based analysis showed that pilots' tendency to clip objects frequently triggered LOC (16.7% of LOC accidents)--this finding was not directly discernable from conventional analyses. Finally, I investigate the causes for improper autorotations using both a conventional approach and the state-based approach. The conventional approach uses modifiers (e.g., "improper", "misjudged") associated with "24520

  4. Interface requirements to couple thermal-hydraulic codes to severe accident codes: ATHLET-CD

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Trambauer, K.

    1997-07-01

    The system code ATHLET-CD is being developed by GRS in cooperation with IKE and IPSN. Its field of application comprises the whole spectrum of leaks and large breaks, as well as operational and abnormal transients for LWRs and VVERs. At present the analyses cover the in-vessel thermal-hydraulics, the early phases of core degradation, as well as fission products and aerosol release from the core and their transport in the Reactor Coolant System. The aim of the code development is to extend the simulation of core degradation up to failure of the reactor pressure vessel and to cover all physically reasonablemore » accident sequences for western and eastern LWRs including RMBKs. The ATHLET-CD structure is highly modular in order to include a manifold spectrum of models and to offer an optimum basis for further development. The code consists of four general modules to describe the reactor coolant system thermal-hydraulics, the core degradation, the fission product core release, and fission product and aerosol transport. Each general module consists of some basic modules which correspond to the process to be simulated or to its specific purpose. Besides the code structure based on the physical modelling, the code follows four strictly separated steps during the course of a calculation: (1) input of structure, geometrical data, initial and boundary condition, (2) initialization of derived quantities, (3) steady state calculation or input of restart data, and (4) transient calculation. In this paper, the transient solution method is briefly presented and the coupling methods are discussed. Three aspects have to be considered for the coupling of different modules in one code system. First is the conservation of masses and energy in the different subsystems as there are fluid, structures, and fission products and aerosols. Second is the convergence of the numerical solution and stability of the calculation. The third aspect is related to the code performance, and running

  5. [Hospital information system performance for road traffic accidents analysis in a hospital recruitment based area].

    PubMed

    Jannot, A-S; Fauconnier, J

    2013-06-01

    Road traffic accidents in France are mainly analyzed through reports completed by the security forces (police and gendarmerie). But the hospital information systems can also identify road traffic accidents via specific documentary codes of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether hospital stays consecutive to road traffic accident were truly identified by these documentary codes in a facility that collects data routinely and to study the consistency of results from hospital information systems and from security forces during the 2002-2008 period. We retrieved all patients for whom a documentary code for road traffic accident was entered in 2002-2008. We manually checked the concordance of documentary code for road traffic accident and trauma origin in 350 patient files. The number of accidents in the Grenoble area was then inferred by combining with hospitalization regional data and compared to the number of persons injured by traffic accidents declared by the security force. These hospital information systems successfully report road traffic accidents with 96% sensitivity (95%CI: [92%, 100%]) and 97% specificity (95%CI: [95%, 99%]). The decrease in road traffic accidents observed was significantly less than that observed was significantly lower than that observed in the data from the security force (45% for security force data against 27% for hospital data). Overall, this study shows that hospital information systems are a powerful tool for studying road traffic accidents morbidity in hospital and are complementary to security force data. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  6. 'It was a freak accident': an analysis of the labelling of injury events in the US press.

    PubMed

    Smith, Katherine C; Girasek, Deborah C; Baker, Susan P; Manganello, Jennifer A; Bowman, Stephen M; Samuels, Alicia; Gielen, Andrea C

    2012-02-01

    Given that the news media shape our understanding of health issues, a study was undertaken to examine the use by the US media of the expression 'freak accident' in relation to injury events. This analysis is intended to contribute to the ongoing consideration of lay conceptualisation of injuries as 'accidents'. LexisNexis Academic was used to search three purposively selected US news sources (Associated Press, New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer) for the expression 'freak accident' over 5 years (2005-9). Textual analysis included both structured and open coding. Coding included measures for who used the expression within the story, the nature of the injury event and the injured person(s) being reported upon, incorporation of prevention information within the story and finally a phenomenological consideration of the uses and meanings of the expression within the story context. Results The search yielded a dataset of 250 human injury stories incorporating the term 'freak accident'. Injuries sustained by professional athletes dominated coverage (61%). Fewer than 10% of stories provided a clear and explicit injury prevention message. Stories in which journalists employed the expression 'freak accident' were less likely to include prevention information than stories in which the expression was used by people quoted in the story. Journalists who frame injury events as freak accidents may be an appropriate focus for advocacy efforts. Effective prevention messages should be developed and disseminated to accompany injury reporting in order to educate and protect the public.

  7. BNL severe-accident sequence experiments and analysis program. [PWR; BWR

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greene, G.A.; Ginsberg, T.; Tutu, N.K.

    1983-01-01

    In the analysis of degraded core accidents, the two major sources of pressure loading on light water reactor containments are: steam generation from core debris-water thermal interactions; and molten core-concrete interactions. Experiments are in progress at BNL in support of analytical model development related to aspects of the above containment loading mechanisms. The work supports development and evaluation of the CORCON (Muir, 1981) and MARCH (Wooton, 1980) computer codes. Progress in the two programs is described.

  8. Aircraft accidents : method of analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1931-01-01

    The revised report includes the chart for the analysis of aircraft accidents, combining consideration of the immediate causes, underlying causes, and results of accidents, as prepared by the special committee, with a number of the definitions clarified. A brief statement of the organization and work of the special committee and of the Committee on Aircraft Accidents; and statistical tables giving a comparison of the types of accidents and causes of accidents in the military services on the one hand and in civil aviation on the other, together with explanations of some of the important differences noted in these tables.

  9. Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis: Dispersion and deposition uncertainty assessment, appendices A and B

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Harper, F.T.; Young, M.L.; Miller, L.A.

    The development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS and COSYMA, completed in 1990, estimate the risks presented by nuclear installations based on postulated frequencies and magnitudes of potential accidents. In 1991, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) began a joint uncertainty analysis of the two codes. The objective was to develop credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for the input variables of the codes. Expert elicitation, developed independently, was identified as the best technology available for developing a library of uncertainty distributions for the selected consequence parameters. The study was formulatedmore » jointly and was limited to the current code models and to physical quantities that could be measured in experiments. To validate the distributions generated for the wet deposition input variables, samples were taken from these distributions and propagated through the wet deposition code model along with the Gaussian plume model (GPM) implemented in the MACCS and COSYMA codes. Resulting distributions closely replicated the aggregated elicited wet deposition distributions. Project teams from the NRC and CEC cooperated successfully to develop and implement a unified process for the elaboration of uncertainty distributions on consequence code input parameters. Formal expert judgment elicitation proved valuable for synthesizing the best available information. Distributions on measurable atmospheric dispersion and deposition parameters were successfully elicited from experts involved in the many phenomenological areas of consequence analysis. This volume is the second of a three-volume document describing the project and contains two appendices describing the rationales for the dispersion and deposition data along with short biographies of the 16 experts who participated in the project.« less

  10. Developing techniques for cause-responsibility analysis of occupational accidents.

    PubMed

    Jabbari, Mousa; Ghorbani, Roghayeh

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this study was to specify the causes of occupational accidents, determine social responsibility and the role of groups involved in work-related accidents. This study develops occupational accidents causes tree, occupational accidents responsibility tree, and occupational accidents component-responsibility analysis worksheet; based on these methods, it develops cause-responsibility analysis (CRA) techniques, and for testing them, analyzes 100 fatal/disabling occupational accidents in the construction setting that were randomly selected from all the work-related accidents in Tehran, Iran, over a 5-year period (2010-2014). The main result of this study involves two techniques for CRA: occupational accidents tree analysis (OATA) and occupational accidents components analysis (OACA), used in parallel for determination of responsible groups and responsibilities rate. From the results, we find that the management group of construction projects has 74.65% responsibility of work-related accidents. The developed techniques are purposeful for occupational accidents investigation/analysis, especially for the determination of detailed list of tasks, responsibilities, and their rates. Therefore, it is useful for preventing work-related accidents by focusing on the responsible group's duties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis -- Uncertainty assessment for deposited material and external doses. Volume 2: Appendices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Goossens, L.H.J.; Kraan, B.C.P.; Cooke, R.M.

    1997-12-01

    The development of two new probabilistic accident consequence codes, MACCS and COSYMA, was completed in 1990. These codes estimate the consequence from the accidental releases of radiological material from hypothesized accidents at nuclear installations. In 1991, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Commission of the European Communities began cosponsoring a joint uncertainty analysis of the two codes. The ultimate objective of this joint effort was to systematically develop credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for the respective code input variables. A formal expert judgment elicitation and evaluation process was identified as the best technology available for developing a library ofmore » uncertainty distributions for these consequence parameters. This report focuses on the results of the study to develop distribution for variables related to the MACCS and COSYMA deposited material and external dose models. This volume contains appendices that include (1) a summary of the MACCS and COSYMA consequence codes, (2) the elicitation questionnaires and case structures, (3) the rationales and results for the panel on deposited material and external doses, (4) short biographies of the experts, and (5) the aggregated results of their responses.« less

  12. Health Physics Code System for Evaluating Accidents Involving Radioactive Materials.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    2014-10-01

    Version 03 The HOTSPOT Health Physics codes were created to provide Health Physics personnel with a fast, field-portable calculational tool for evaluating accidents involving radioactive materials. HOTSPOT codes provide a first-order approximation of the radiation effects associated with the atmospheric release of radioactive materials. The developer's website is: http://www.llnl.gov/nhi/hotspot/. Four general programs, PLUME, EXPLOSION, FIRE, and RESUSPENSION, calculate a downwind assessment following the release of radioactive material resulting from a continuous or puff release, explosive release, fuel fire, or an area contamination event. Additional programs deal specifically with the release of plutonium, uranium, and tritium to expedite an initial assessmentmore » of accidents involving nuclear weapons. The FIDLER program can calibrate radiation survey instruments for ground survey measurements and initial screening of personnel for possible plutonium uptake in the lung. The HOTSPOT codes are fast, portable, easy to use, and fully documented in electronic help files. HOTSPOT supports color high resolution monitors and printers for concentration plots and contours. The codes have been extensively used by the DOS community since 1985. Tables and graphical output can be directed to the computer screen, printer, or a disk file. The graphical output consists of dose and ground contamination as a function of plume centerline downwind distance, and radiation dose and ground contamination contours. Users have the option of displaying scenario text on the plots. HOTSPOT 3.0.1 fixes three significant Windows 7 issues: Executable installed properly under "Program Files/HotSpot 3.0". Installation package now smaller: removed dependency on older Windows DLL files which previously needed to; Forms now properly scale based on DPI instead of font for users who change their screen resolution to something other than 100%. This is a more common feature in Windows 7; Windows

  13. A methodology for accident analysis of fusion breeder blankets and its application to helium-cooled lead–lithium blanket

    DOE PAGES

    Panayotov, Dobromir; Poitevin, Yves; Grief, Andrew; ...

    2016-09-23

    'Fusion for Energy' (F4E) is designing, developing, and implementing the European Helium-Cooled Lead-Lithium (HCLL) and Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Systems (TBSs) for ITER (Nuclear Facility INB-174). Safety demonstration is an essential element for the integration of these TBSs into ITER and accident analysis is one of its critical components. A systematic approach to accident analysis has been developed under the F4E contract on TBS safety analyses. F4E technical requirements, together with Amec Foster Wheeler and INL efforts, have resulted in a comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials,more » and phenomena while remaining consistent with the approach already applied to ITER accident analyses. Furthermore, the methodology phases are illustrated in the paper by its application to the EU HCLL TBS using both MELCOR and RELAP5 codes.« less

  14. An analysis of aircraft accidents involving fires

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lucha, G. V.; Robertson, M. A.; Schooley, F. A.

    1975-01-01

    All U. S. Air Carrier accidents between 1963 and 1974 were studied to assess the extent of total personnel and aircraft damage which occurred in accidents and in accidents involving fire. Published accident reports and NTSB investigators' factual backup files were the primary sources of data. Although it was frequently not possible to assess the relative extent of fire-caused damage versus impact damage using the available data, the study established upper and lower bounds for deaths and damage due specifically to fire. In 12 years there were 122 accidents which involved airframe fires. Eighty-seven percent of the fires occurred after impact, and fuel leakage from ruptured tanks or severed lines was the most frequently cited cause. A cost analysis was performed for 300 serious accidents, including 92 serious accidents which involved fire. Personal injury costs were outside the scope of the cost analysis, but data on personnel injury judgements as well as settlements received from the CAB are included for reference.

  15. Interface requirements for coupling a containment code to a reactor system thermal hydraulic codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baratta, A.J.

    1997-07-01

    To perform a complete analysis of a reactor transient, not only the primary system response but the containment response must also be accounted for. Such transients and accidents as a loss of coolant accident in both pressurized water and boiling water reactors and inadvertent operation of safety relief valves all challenge the containment and may influence flows because of containment feedback. More recently, the advanced reactor designs put forth by General Electric and Westinghouse in the US and by Framatome and Seimens in Europe rely on the containment to act as the ultimate heat sink. Techniques used by analysts andmore » engineers to analyze the interaction of the containment and the primary system were usually iterative in nature. Codes such as RELAP or RETRAN were used to analyze the primary system response and CONTAIN or CONTEMPT the containment response. The analysis was performed by first running the system code and representing the containment as a fixed pressure boundary condition. The flows were usually from the primary system to the containment initially and generally under choked conditions. Once the mass flows and timing are determined from the system codes, these conditions were input into the containment code. The resulting pressures and temperatures were then calculated and the containment performance analyzed. The disadvantage of this approach becomes evident when one performs an analysis of a rapid depressurization or a long term accident sequence in which feedback from the containment can occur. For example, in a BWR main steam line break transient, the containment heats up and becomes a source of energy for the primary system. Recent advances in programming and computer technology are available to provide an alternative approach. The author and other researchers have developed linkage codes capable of transferring data between codes at each time step allowing discrete codes to be coupled together.« less

  16. Single pilot IFR accident data analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harris, D. F.; Morrisete, J. A.

    1982-01-01

    The aircraft accident data recorded and maintained by the National Transportation Safety Board for 1964 to 1979 were analyzed to determine what problems exist in the general aviation single pilot instrument flight rules environment. A previous study conducted in 1978 for the years 1964 to 1975 provided a basis for comparison. The purpose was to determine what changes, if any, have occurred in trends and cause-effect relationships reported in the earlier study. The increasing numbers have been tied to measures of activity to produce accident rates which in turn were analyzed in terms of change. Where anomalies or unusually high accident rates were encountered, further analysis was conducted to isolate pertinent patterns of cause factors and/or experience levels of involved pilots. The bulk of the effort addresses accidents in the landing phase of operations. A detailed analysis was performed on controlled/uncontrolled collisions and their unique attributes delineated. Estimates of day vs. night general aviation activity and accident rates were obtained.

  17. United States Department of Energy severe accident research following the Fukushima Daiichi accidents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Farmer, M. T.; Corradini, M.; Rempe, J.

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has played a major role in the U.S. response to the events at Fukushima Daiichi. During the first several weeks following the accident, U.S. assistance efforts were guided by results from a significant and diverse set of analyses. In the months that followed, a coordinated analysis activity aimed at gaining a more thorough understanding of the accident sequence was completed using laboratory-developed, system-level best-estimate accident analysis codes, while a parallel analysis was conducted by U.S. industry. A comparison of predictions for Unit 1 from these two studies indicated significant differences between MAAP and MELCORmore » results for key plant parameters, such as in-core hydrogen production. On that basis, a crosswalk was completed to determine the key modeling variations that led to these differences. In parallel with these activities, it became clear that there was a need to perform a technology gap evaluation on accident-tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research and augmented by insights from Fukushima. In addition, there is growing international recognition that data from Fukushima could significantly reduce uncertainties related to severe accident progression, particularly for boiling water reactors. On these bases, a group of U. S. experts in LWR safety and plant operations was convened by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) to complete technology gap analysis and Fukushima forensics data needs identification activities. The results from these activities were used as the basis for refining DOE-NE's severe accident research and development (R&D) plan. Finally, this paper provides a high-level review of DOE-sponsored R&D efforts in these areas, including planned activities on accident-tolerant components and accident analysis methods.« less

  18. United States Department of Energy severe accident research following the Fukushima Daiichi accidents

    DOE PAGES

    Farmer, M. T.; Corradini, M.; Rempe, J.; ...

    2016-11-02

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has played a major role in the U.S. response to the events at Fukushima Daiichi. During the first several weeks following the accident, U.S. assistance efforts were guided by results from a significant and diverse set of analyses. In the months that followed, a coordinated analysis activity aimed at gaining a more thorough understanding of the accident sequence was completed using laboratory-developed, system-level best-estimate accident analysis codes, while a parallel analysis was conducted by U.S. industry. A comparison of predictions for Unit 1 from these two studies indicated significant differences between MAAP and MELCORmore » results for key plant parameters, such as in-core hydrogen production. On that basis, a crosswalk was completed to determine the key modeling variations that led to these differences. In parallel with these activities, it became clear that there was a need to perform a technology gap evaluation on accident-tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research and augmented by insights from Fukushima. In addition, there is growing international recognition that data from Fukushima could significantly reduce uncertainties related to severe accident progression, particularly for boiling water reactors. On these bases, a group of U. S. experts in LWR safety and plant operations was convened by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) to complete technology gap analysis and Fukushima forensics data needs identification activities. The results from these activities were used as the basis for refining DOE-NE's severe accident research and development (R&D) plan. Finally, this paper provides a high-level review of DOE-sponsored R&D efforts in these areas, including planned activities on accident-tolerant components and accident analysis methods.« less

  19. TRANSURANUS: a fuel rod analysis code ready for use

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lassmann, K.

    1992-06-01

    TRANSURANUS is a computer program for the thermal and mechanical analysis of fuel rods in nuclear reactors and was developed at the European Institute for Transuranium Elements (TUI). The TRANSURANUS code consists of a clearly defined mechanical-mathematical framework into which physical models can easily be incorporated. Besides its flexibility for different fuel rod designs the TRANSURANUS code can deal with very different situations, as given for instance in an experiment, under normal, off-normal and accident conditions. The time scale of the problems to be treated may range from milliseconds to years. The code has a comprehensive material data bank for oxide, mixed oxide, carbide and nitride fuels, Zircaloy and steel claddings and different coolants. During its development great effort was spent on obtaining an extremely flexible tool which is easy to handle, exhibiting very fast running times. The total development effort is approximately 40 man-years. In recent years the interest to use this code grew and the code is in use in several organisations, both research and private industry. The code is now available to all interested parties. The paper outlines the main features and capabilities of the TRANSURANUS code, its validation and treats also some practical aspects.

  20. The SAS4A/SASSYS-1 Safety Analysis Code System, Version 5

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fanning, T. H.; Brunett, A. J.; Sumner, T.

    The SAS4A/SASSYS-1 computer code is developed by Argonne National Laboratory for thermal, hydraulic, and neutronic analysis of power and flow transients in liquidmetal- cooled nuclear reactors (LMRs). SAS4A was developed to analyze severe core disruption accidents with coolant boiling and fuel melting and relocation, initiated by a very low probability coincidence of an accident precursor and failure of one or more safety systems. SASSYS-1, originally developed to address loss-of-decay-heat-removal accidents, has evolved into a tool for margin assessment in design basis accident (DBA) analysis and for consequence assessment in beyond-design-basis accident (BDBA) analysis. SAS4A contains detailed, mechanistic models of transientmore » thermal, hydraulic, neutronic, and mechanical phenomena to describe the response of the reactor core, its coolant, fuel elements, and structural members to accident conditions. The core channel models in SAS4A provide the capability to analyze the initial phase of core disruptive accidents, through coolant heat-up and boiling, fuel element failure, and fuel melting and relocation. Originally developed to analyze oxide fuel clad with stainless steel, the models in SAS4A have been extended and specialized to metallic fuel with advanced alloy cladding. SASSYS-1 provides the capability to perform a detailed thermal/hydraulic simulation of the primary and secondary sodium coolant circuits and the balance-ofplant steam/water circuit. These sodium and steam circuit models include component models for heat exchangers, pumps, valves, turbines, and condensers, and thermal/hydraulic models of pipes and plena. SASSYS-1 also contains a plant protection and control system modeling capability, which provides digital representations of reactor, pump, and valve controllers and their response to input signal changes.« less

  1. Reactor Safety Gap Evaluation of Accident Tolerant Components and Severe Accident Analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Farmer, Mitchell T.; Bunt, R.; Corradini, M.

    The overall objective of this study was to conduct a technology gap evaluation on accident tolerant components and severe accident analysis methodologies with the goal of identifying any data and/or knowledge gaps that may exist, given the current state of light water reactor (LWR) severe accident research, and additionally augmented by insights obtained from the Fukushima accident. The ultimate benefit of this activity is that the results can be used to refine the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reactor Safety Technology (RST) research and development (R&D) program plan to address key knowledge gaps in severe accident phenomena and analyses that affectmore » reactor safety and that are not currently being addressed by the industry or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).« less

  2. Aircraft Loss-of-Control Accident Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Belcastro, Christine M.; Foster, John V.

    2010-01-01

    Loss of control remains one of the largest contributors to fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. Aircraft loss-of-control accidents are complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. To gain a better understanding into aircraft loss-of-control events and possible intervention strategies, this paper presents a detailed analysis of loss-of-control accident data (predominantly from Part 121), including worst case combinations of causal and contributing factors and their sequencing. Future potential risks are also considered.

  3. Thermal hydraulic-severe accident code interfaces for SCDAP/RELAP5/MOD3.2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Coryell, E.W.; Siefken, L.J.; Harvego, E.A.

    1997-07-01

    The SCDAP/RELAP5 computer code is designed to describe the overall reactor coolant system thermal-hydraulic response, core damage progression, and fission product release during severe accidents. The code is being developed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory under the primary sponsorship of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The code is the result of merging the RELAP5, SCDAP, and COUPLE codes. The RELAP5 portion of the code calculates the overall reactor coolant system, thermal-hydraulics, and associated reactor system responses. The SCDAP portion of the code describes the response of the core and associated vessel structures.more » The COUPLE portion of the code describes response of lower plenum structures and debris and the failure of the lower head. The code uses a modular approach with the overall structure, input/output processing, and data structures following the pattern established for RELAP5. The code uses a building block approach to allow the code user to easily represent a wide variety of systems and conditions through a powerful input processor. The user can represent a wide variety of experiments or reactor designs by selecting fuel rods and other assembly structures from a range of representative core component models, and arrange them in a variety of patterns within the thermalhydraulic network. The COUPLE portion of the code uses two-dimensional representations of the lower plenum structures and debris beds. The flow of information between the different portions of the code occurs at each system level time step advancement. The RELAP5 portion of the code describes the fluid transport around the system. These fluid conditions are used as thermal and mass transport boundary conditions for the SCDAP and COUPLE structures and debris beds.« less

  4. Recent improvements of reactor physics codes in MHI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kosaka, Shinya; Yamaji, Kazuya; Kirimura, Kazuki; Kamiyama, Yohei; Matsumoto, Hideki

    2015-12-01

    This paper introduces recent improvements for reactor physics codes in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd(MHI). MHI has developed a new neutronics design code system Galaxy/Cosmo-S(GCS) for PWR core analysis. After TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi accident, it is required to consider design extended condition which has not been covered explicitly by the former safety licensing analyses. Under these circumstances, MHI made some improvements for GCS code system. A new resonance calculation model of lattice physics code and homogeneous cross section representative model for core simulator have been developed to apply more wide range core conditions corresponding to severe accident status such like anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) analysis and criticality evaluation of dried-up spent fuel pit. As a result of these improvements, GCS code system has very wide calculation applicability with good accuracy for any core conditions as far as fuel is not damaged. In this paper, the outline of GCS code system is described briefly and recent relevant development activities are presented.

  5. Aircraft accidents : method of analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1929-01-01

    This report on a method of analysis of aircraft accidents has been prepared by a special committee on the nomenclature, subdivision, and classification of aircraft accidents organized by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in response to a request dated February 18, 1928, from the Air Coordination Committee consisting of the Assistant Secretaries for Aeronautics in the Departments of War, Navy, and Commerce. The work was undertaken in recognition of the difficulty of drawing correct conclusions from efforts to analyze and compare reports of aircraft accidents prepared by different organizations using different classifications and definitions. The air coordination committee's request was made "in order that practices used may henceforth conform to a standard and be universally comparable." the purpose of the special committee therefore was to prepare a basis for the classification and comparison of aircraft accidents, both civil and military. (author)

  6. Application of forensic image analysis in accident investigations.

    PubMed

    Verolme, Ellen; Mieremet, Arjan

    2017-09-01

    Forensic investigations are primarily meant to obtain objective answers that can be used for criminal prosecution. Accident analyses are usually performed to learn from incidents and to prevent similar events from occurring in the future. Although the primary goal may be different, the steps in which information is gathered, interpreted and weighed are similar in both types of investigations, implying that forensic techniques can be of use in accident investigations as well. The use in accident investigations usually means that more information can be obtained from the available information than when used in criminal investigations, since the latter require a higher evidence level. In this paper, we demonstrate the applicability of forensic techniques for accident investigations by presenting a number of cases from one specific field of expertise: image analysis. With the rapid spread of digital devices and new media, a wealth of image material and other digital information has become available for accident investigators. We show that much information can be distilled from footage by using forensic image analysis techniques. These applications show that image analysis provides information that is crucial for obtaining the sequence of events and the two- and three-dimensional geometry of an accident. Since accident investigation focuses primarily on learning from accidents and prevention of future accidents, and less on the blame that is crucial for criminal investigations, the field of application of these forensic tools may be broader than would be the case in purely legal sense. This is an important notion for future accident investigations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. An analysis of pilot error-related aircraft accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kowalsky, N. B.; Masters, R. L.; Stone, R. B.; Babcock, G. L.; Rypka, E. W.

    1974-01-01

    A multidisciplinary team approach to pilot error-related U.S. air carrier jet aircraft accident investigation records successfully reclaimed hidden human error information not shown in statistical studies. New analytic techniques were developed and applied to the data to discover and identify multiple elements of commonality and shared characteristics within this group of accidents. Three techniques of analysis were used: Critical element analysis, which demonstrated the importance of a subjective qualitative approach to raw accident data and surfaced information heretofore unavailable. Cluster analysis, which was an exploratory research tool that will lead to increased understanding and improved organization of facts, the discovery of new meaning in large data sets, and the generation of explanatory hypotheses. Pattern recognition, by which accidents can be categorized by pattern conformity after critical element identification by cluster analysis.

  8. Benchmarking MARS (accident management software) with the Browns Ferry fire

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dawson, S.M.; Liu, L.Y.; Raines, J.C.

    1992-01-01

    The MAAP Accident Response System (MARS) is a userfriendly computer software developed to provide management and engineering staff with the most needed insights, during actual or simulated accidents, of the current and future conditions of the plant based on current plant data and its trends. To demonstrate the reliability of the MARS code in simulatng a plant transient, MARS is being benchmarked with the available reactor pressure vessel (RPV) pressure and level data from the Browns Ferry fire. The MRS software uses the Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP) code as its basis to calculate plant response under accident conditions. MARSmore » uses a limited set of plant data to initialize and track the accidnt progression. To perform this benchmark, a simulated set of plant data was constructed based on actual report data containing the information necessary to initialize MARS and keep track of plant system status throughout the accident progression. The initial Browns Ferry fire data were produced by performing a MAAP run to simulate the accident. The remaining accident simulation used actual plant data.« less

  9. Station Blackout at Browns Ferry Unit One - accident sequence analysis. Volume 1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cook, D.H.; Harrington, R.M.; Greene, S.R.

    1981-11-01

    This study describes the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to Station Blackout, defined as a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel-generators to start and load. Every effort has been made to employ the most realistic assumptions during the process of defining the sequence of events for this hypothetical accident. DC power is assumed to remain available from the unit batteries during the initial phase and the operator actions and corresponding events during this period are described using results provided by an analysis code developed specifically for this purpose.more » The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion and the events during this second phase of the accident in which dc power would be unavailable were determined through use of the MARCH code. Without dc power, cooling water could no longer be injected into the reactor vessel and the events of the second phase include core meltdown and subsequent containment failure. An estimate of the magnitude and timing of the concomitant release of the noble gas, cesium, and iodine-based fission products to the environment is provided in Volume 2 of this report. 58 refs., 75 figs., 8 tabs.« less

  10. The Fukushima Daiichi Accident Study Information Portal

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shawn St. Germain; Curtis Smith; David Schwieder

    This paper presents a description of The Fukushima Daiichi Accident Study Information Portal. The Information Portal was created by the Idaho National Laboratory as part of joint NRC and DOE project to assess the severe accident modeling capability of the MELCOR analysis code. The Fukushima Daiichi Accident Study Information Portal was created to collect, store, retrieve and validate information and data for use in reconstructing the Fukushima Daiichi accident. In addition to supporting the MELCOR simulations, the Portal will be the main DOE repository for all data, studies and reports related to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powermore » station. The data is stored in a secured (password protected and encrypted) repository that is searchable and accessible to researchers at diverse locations.« less

  11. Categorizing accident sequences in the external radiotherapy for risk analysis

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Purpose This study identifies accident sequences from the past accidents in order to help the risk analysis application to the external radiotherapy. Materials and Methods This study reviews 59 accidental cases in two retrospective safety analyses that have collected the incidents in the external radiotherapy extensively. Two accident analysis reports that accumulated past incidents are investigated to identify accident sequences including initiating events, failure of safety measures, and consequences. This study classifies the accidents by the treatments stages and sources of errors for initiating events, types of failures in the safety measures, and types of undesirable consequences and the number of affected patients. Then, the accident sequences are grouped into several categories on the basis of similarity of progression. As a result, these cases can be categorized into 14 groups of accident sequence. Results The result indicates that risk analysis needs to pay attention to not only the planning stage, but also the calibration stage that is committed prior to the main treatment process. It also shows that human error is the largest contributor to initiating events as well as to the failure of safety measures. This study also illustrates an event tree analysis for an accident sequence initiated in the calibration. Conclusion This study is expected to provide sights into the accident sequences for the prospective risk analysis through the review of experiences. PMID:23865005

  12. Recent improvements of reactor physics codes in MHI

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kosaka, Shinya, E-mail: shinya-kosaka@mhi.co.jp; Yamaji, Kazuya; Kirimura, Kazuki

    2015-12-31

    This paper introduces recent improvements for reactor physics codes in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd(MHI). MHI has developed a new neutronics design code system Galaxy/Cosmo-S(GCS) for PWR core analysis. After TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi accident, it is required to consider design extended condition which has not been covered explicitly by the former safety licensing analyses. Under these circumstances, MHI made some improvements for GCS code system. A new resonance calculation model of lattice physics code and homogeneous cross section representative model for core simulator have been developed to apply more wide range core conditions corresponding to severe accident status such like anticipatedmore » transient without scram (ATWS) analysis and criticality evaluation of dried-up spent fuel pit. As a result of these improvements, GCS code system has very wide calculation applicability with good accuracy for any core conditions as far as fuel is not damaged. In this paper, the outline of GCS code system is described briefly and recent relevant development activities are presented.« less

  13. The Initial Atmospheric Transport (IAT) Code: Description and Validation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Morrow, Charles W.; Bartel, Timothy James

    The Initial Atmospheric Transport (IAT) computer code was developed at Sandia National Laboratories as part of their nuclear launch accident consequences analysis suite of computer codes. The purpose of IAT is to predict the initial puff/plume rise resulting from either a solid rocket propellant or liquid rocket fuel fire. The code generates initial conditions for subsequent atmospheric transport calculations. The Initial Atmospheric Transfer (IAT) code has been compared to two data sets which are appropriate to the design space of space launch accident analyses. The primary model uncertainties are the entrainment coefficients for the extended Taylor model. The Titan 34Dmore » accident (1986) was used to calibrate these entrainment settings for a prototypic liquid propellant accident while the recent Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL, or simply APL) large propellant block tests (2012) were used to calibrate the entrainment settings for prototypic solid propellant accidents. North American Meteorology (NAM )formatted weather data profiles are used by IAT to determine the local buoyancy force balance. The IAT comparisons for the APL solid propellant tests illustrate the sensitivity of the plume elevation to the weather profiles; that is, the weather profile is a dominant factor in determining the plume elevation. The IAT code performed remarkably well and is considered validated for neutral weather conditions.« less

  14. Canister Storage Building (CSB) Design Basis Accident Analysis Documentation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    CROWE, R.D.; PIEPHO, M.G.

    2000-03-23

    This document provided the detailed accident analysis to support HNF-3553, Spent Nuclear Fuel Project Final Safety Analysis Report, Annex A, ''Canister Storage Building Final Safety Analysis Report''. All assumptions, parameters, and models used to provide the analysis of the design basis accidents are documented to support the conclusions in the Canister Storage Building Final Safety Analysis Report.

  15. Verification of combined thermal-hydraulic and heat conduction analysis code FLOWNET/TRUMP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maruyama, Soh; Fujimoto, Nozomu; Kiso, Yoshihiro; Murakami, Tomoyuki; Sudo, Yukio

    1988-09-01

    This report presents the verification results of the combined thermal-hydraulic and heat conduction analysis code, FLOWNET/TRUMP which has been utilized for the core thermal hydraulic design, especially for the analysis of flow distribution among fuel block coolant channels, the determination of thermal boundary conditions for fuel block stress analysis and the estimation of fuel temperature in the case of fuel block coolant channel blockage accident in the design of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor(HTTR), which the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute has been planning to construct in order to establish basic technologies for future advanced very high temperature gas-cooled reactors and to be served as an irradiation test reactor for promotion of innovative high temperature new frontier technologies. The verification of the code was done through the comparison between the analytical results and experimental results of the Helium Engineering Demonstration Loop Multi-channel Test Section(HENDEL T(sub 1-M)) with simulated fuel rods and fuel blocks.

  16. Analysis of the FeCrAl Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept Benefits during BWR Station Blackout Accidents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Robb, Kevin R

    2015-01-01

    Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered for fuel concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. FeCrAl alloys have very slow oxidation kinetics and good strength at high temperatures. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). To estimate the potential safety gains afforded by the FeCrAl concept, the MELCOR code was used to analyze a range of postulated station blackout severe accident scenarios in a BWR/4 reactor employing FeCrAl. The simulations utilize the most recently known thermophysical properties and oxidation kinetics for FeCrAl. Overall, when compared to the traditionalmore » Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box, the FeCrAl concept provides a few extra hours of time for operators to take mitigating actions and/or for evacuations to take place. A coolable core geometry is retained longer, enhancing the ability to stabilize an accident. Finally, due to the slower oxidation kinetics, substantially less hydrogen is generated, and the generation is delayed in time. This decreases the amount of non-condensable gases in containment and the potential for deflagrations to inhibit the accident response.« less

  17. A cluster analysis on road traffic accidents using genetic algorithms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saharan, Sabariah; Baragona, Roberto

    2017-04-01

    The analysis of traffic road accidents is increasingly important because of the accidents cost and public road safety. The availability or large data sets makes the study of factors that affect the frequency and severity accidents are viable. However, the data are often highly unbalanced and overlapped. We deal with the data set of the road traffic accidents recorded in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 2000-2009 with a total of 26440 accidents. The data is in a binary set and there are 50 factors road traffic accidents with four level of severity. We used genetic algorithm for the analysis because we are in the presence of a large unbalanced data set and standard clustering like k-means algorithm may not be suitable for the task. The genetic algorithm based on clustering for unknown K, (GCUK) has been used to identify the factors associated with accidents of different levels of severity. The results provided us with an interesting insight into the relationship between factors and accidents severity level and suggest that the two main factors that contributes to fatal accidents are "Speed greater than 60 km h" and "Did not see other people until it was too late". A comparison with the k-means algorithm and the independent component analysis is performed to validate the results.

  18. Validity and consistency assessment of accident analysis methods in the petroleum industry.

    PubMed

    Ahmadi, Omran; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher; Khavanin, Ali; Mokarami, Hamidreza

    2017-11-17

    Accident analysis is the main aspect of accident investigation. It includes the method of connecting different causes in a procedural way. Therefore, it is important to use valid and reliable methods for the investigation of different causal factors of accidents, especially the noteworthy ones. This study aimed to prominently assess the accuracy (sensitivity index [SI]) and consistency of the six most commonly used accident analysis methods in the petroleum industry. In order to evaluate the methods of accident analysis, two real case studies (process safety and personal accident) from the petroleum industry were analyzed by 10 assessors. The accuracy and consistency of these methods were then evaluated. The assessors were trained in the workshop of accident analysis methods. The systematic cause analysis technique and bowtie methods gained the greatest SI scores for both personal and process safety accidents, respectively. The best average results of the consistency in a single method (based on 10 independent assessors) were in the region of 70%. This study confirmed that the application of methods with pre-defined causes and a logic tree could enhance the sensitivity and consistency of accident analysis.

  19. Analysis of the SL-1 Accident Using RELAPS5-3D

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Francisco, A.D. and Tomlinson, E. T.

    2007-11-08

    On January 3, 1961, at the National Reactor Testing Station, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, the Stationary Low Power Reactor No. 1 (SL-1) experienced a major nuclear excursion, killing three people, and destroying the reactor core. The SL-1 reactor, a 3 MW{sub t} boiling water reactor, was shut down and undergoing routine maintenance work at the time. This paper presents an analysis of the SL-1 reactor excursion using the RELAP5-3D thermal-hydraulic and nuclear analysis code, with the intent of simulating the accident from the point of reactivity insertion to destruction and vaporization of the fuel. Results are presented, along with amore » discussion of sensitivity to some reactor and transient parameters (many of the details are only known with a high level of uncertainty).« less

  20. Indonesian Sea Accident Analysis (Case Study From 2003 – 2013)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arya Dewanto, Y.; Faturachman, D.

    2018-03-01

    There are so many accidents in sea transportation in Indonesia. Most of the accidents happen because of low concern aspects of the safety and security of the crew. In sailing, a man as transport users to interact with the ship and the surrounding environment (including other ships, cruise lines, ports, and the situation of local conditions). These interactions are sometimes very complex and related to various aspects of. Aware of the multiplicity of aspects related to the third of these factors, seeking the safety of cruise through a reduction in the number of accidents and the risk of death and serious injuries due to accidents and goods transported is certainly not enough attempted through mono-sector approach, but rather takes a multi-sector approach to the efforts. In this paper, we described the Indonesian Sea Transportation accident analysis for eleven years divided into four items: total of ship accident type, ship accident factor, total of casualties, region of ship accidents. All data founded from Marine Court (Mahkamah Pelayaran). From that 4 items we can find Indonesia Sea Accident Analysis from 2003-2013.

  1. Civil helicopter wire strike assessment study. Volume 2: Accident analysis briefs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tuomela, C. H.; Brennan, M. F.

    1980-01-01

    A description and analysis of each of the 208 civil helicopter wire strike accidents reported to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the ten year period 1970-1979 is given. The accident analysis briefs were based on pilot reports, FAA investigation reports, and such accident photographs as were made available. Briefs were grouped by year and, within year, by NTSB accident report number.

  2. Application of MELCOR Code to a French PWR 900 MWe Severe Accident Sequence and Evaluation of Models Performance Focusing on In-Vessel Thermal Hydraulic Results

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    De Rosa, Felice

    2006-07-01

    In the ambit of the Severe Accident Network of Excellence Project (SARNET), funded by the European Union, 6. FISA (Fission Safety) Programme, one of the main tasks is the development and validation of the European Accident Source Term Evaluation Code (ASTEC Code). One of the reference codes used to compare ASTEC results, coming from experimental and Reactor Plant applications, is MELCOR. ENEA is a SARNET member and also an ASTEC and MELCOR user. During the first 18 months of this project, we performed a series of MELCOR and ASTEC calculations referring to a French PWR 900 MWe and to themore » accident sequence of 'Loss of Steam Generator (SG) Feedwater' (known as H2 sequence in the French classification). H2 is an accident sequence substantially equivalent to a Station Blackout scenario, like a TMLB accident, with the only difference that in H2 sequence the scram is forced to occur with a delay of 28 seconds. The main events during the accident sequence are a loss of normal and auxiliary SG feedwater (0 s), followed by a scram when the water level in SG is equal or less than 0.7 m (after 28 seconds). There is also a main coolant pumps trip when {delta}Tsat < 10 deg. C, a total opening of the three relief valves when Tric (core maximal outlet temperature) is above 603 K (330 deg. C) and accumulators isolation when primary pressure goes below 1.5 MPa (15 bar). Among many other points, it is worth noting that this was the first time that a MELCOR 1.8.5 input deck was available for a French PWR 900. The main ENEA effort in this period was devoted to prepare the MELCOR input deck using the code version v.1.8.5 (build QZ Oct 2000 with the latest patch 185003 Oct 2001). The input deck, completely new, was prepared taking into account structure, data and same conditions as those found inside ASTEC input decks. The main goal of the work presented in this paper is to put in evidence where and when MELCOR provides good enough results and why, in some cases mainly referring

  3. 'Remixing Rasmussen': The evolution of Accimaps within systemic accident analysis.

    PubMed

    Waterson, Patrick; Jenkins, Daniel P; Salmon, Paul M; Underwood, Peter

    2017-03-01

    Throughout Jens Rasmussen's career there has been a continued emphasis on the development of methods, techniques and tools for accident analysis and investigation. In this paper we focus on the evolution and development of one specific example, namely Accimaps and their use for accident analysis. We describe the origins of Accimaps followed by a review of 27 studies which have applied and adapted Accimaps over the period 2000-2015 to a range of domains and types of accident. Aside from demonstrating the versatility and popularity of the method, part of the motivation for the review of the use of Accimaps is to address the question of what constitutes a sound, usable, valid and reliable approach to systemic accident analysis. The findings from the review demonstrate continuity with the work carried out by Rasmussen, as well as significant variation (e.g., changes to the Accimap, used of additional theoretical and practice-oriented perspectives on safety). We conclude the paper with some speculations regarding future extension and adaptation of the Accimap approach including the possibility of using hybrid models for accident analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Development of a three-dimensional transient code for reactivity-initiated events of BWRs (boiling water reactors) - Models and code verifications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Uematsu, Hitoshi; Yamamoto, Toru; Izutsu, Sadayuki

    1990-06-01

    A reactivity-initiated event is a design-basis accident for the safety analysis of boiling water reactors. It is defined as a rapid transient of reactor power caused by a reactivity insertion of over $1.0 due to a postulated drop or abnormal withdrawal of the control rod from the core. Strong space-dependent feedback effects are associated with the local power increase due to control rod movement. A realistic treatment of the core status in a transient by a code with a detailed core model is recommended in evaluating this event. A three-dimensional transient code, ARIES, has been developed to meet this need.more » The code simulates the event with three-dimensional neutronics, coupled with multichannel thermal hydraulics, based on a nonequilibrium separated flow model. The experimental data obtained in reactivity accident tests performed with the SPERT III-E core are used to verify the entire code, including thermal-hydraulic models.« less

  5. Analysis of traffic accident data in Kentucky (1986-1990)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1991-09-01

    This report includes an analysis of traffic accident data in Kentucky for the years of 1986-1990. A primary objectve of this study was to determine average statistics for kentucky highways. Average and critical number and rates of accidents were calc...

  6. Analysis of traffic accident data in Kentucky (1994-1998)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1999-09-01

    This report includes an analysis of traffic accident data in Kentucky for the years of 1994 through 1998. A primary objective of this study was to determine average accident statistics for Kentucky highways. Average and critical numbers and rates of ...

  7. Corporate cost of occupational accidents: an activity-based analysis.

    PubMed

    Rikhardsson, Pall M; Impgaard, Martin

    2004-03-01

    The systematic accident cost analysis (SACA) project was carried out during 2001 by The Aarhus School of Business and PricewaterhouseCoopers Denmark with financial support from The Danish National Working Environment Authority. Its focused on developing and testing a method for evaluating occupational costs of companies for use by occupational health and safety professionals. The method was tested in nine Danish companies within three different industry sectors and the costs of 27 selected occupational accidents in these companies were calculated. One of the main conclusions is that the SACA method could be used in all of the companies without revisions. The evaluation of accident cost showed that 2/3 of the costs of occupational accidents are visible in the Danish corporate accounting systems reviewed while 1/3 is hidden from management view. The highest cost of occupational accidents for a company with 3.600 employees was estimated to approximately US$ 682.000. The paper includes an introduction regarding accident cost analysis in companies, a presentation of the SACA project methodology and the SACA method itself, a short overview of some of the results of the SACA project and a conclusion. Further information about the project is available at http://www.asb.dk/saca.

  8. Analysis of traffic accidents in Romania, 2009.

    PubMed

    Călinoiu, Geovana; Minca, Dana Galieta; Furtunescu, Florentina Ligia

    2012-01-01

    This paper aimed to underline the main consequences of traffic accidents in Romania 2009 and their associated causes or circumstances. We identified some problematic geographic areas, some critical months or moments of the day and also the most frequent causes; all these should become targets for the future planning. The current analysis provides some priority criteria for public health interventions. So, the future national road safety strategy should be in line with the EU objectives, but also with the national priorities. Romania is far away from the average EU target for 2010 of halving the death by traffic accidents registered in 2001. To describe the circumstances and the consequences related to traffic accidents registered in Romania, for the year 2009. An ecological study was conducted. The traffic accidents circumstances were analyzed in terms of magnitude, geographic space, time and cause. The consequences were analyzed as affected people and damaged cars. A total of 28,627 traffic accidents were registered in Romania during the year 2009. 2,796 people were killed and 27,968 were hospitalized and 42,443 cars were damaged. 3 of 4 accidents were caused by violations on behalf of the car drivers. Most common violations in car drivers were excess of speed and priority violations (52.4%). Among the pedestrians, 7 of 10 accidents were caused by illegal crossing. A higher number of accidents occurred during the summer months and during the evening hours (from 5.00 pm till 8.00 pm). The traffic accidents represent a real public health problem in Romania and a serious burden for the health system. The gap between Romania and the other EU member states needs to be diminished in the next decade. In this purpose, the future national road safety strategy should be in line with the EU objectives, but also with the national priorities. Research is needed to understand the causes and the socio-economical impact of traffic accidents and to define appropriate national

  9. Analysis of traffic accident data in Kentucky (1995-1999)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2000-09-01

    This report includes an analysis of traffic accidents data in Kentucky for the year 1995-1999. A primary objective of this study was to determined average and critical numbers and rates of accidents for various types of highways in rural and urban ar...

  10. The kinetics of aerosol particle formation and removal in NPP severe accidents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zatevakhin, Mikhail A.; Arefiev, Valentin K.; Semashko, Sergey E.; Dolganov, Rostislav A.

    2016-06-01

    Severe Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accidents are accompanied by release of a massive amount of energy, radioactive products and hydrogen into the atmosphere of the NPP containment. A valid estimation of consequences of such accidents can only be carried out through the use of the integrated codes comprising a description of the basic processes which determine the consequences. A brief description of a coupled aerosol and thermal-hydraulic code to be used for the calculation of the aerosol kinetics within the NPP containment in case of a severe accident is given. The code comprises a KIN aerosol unit integrated into the KUPOL-M thermal-hydraulic code. Some features of aerosol behavior in severe NPP accidents are briefly described.

  11. Analysis on the Role of RSG-GAS Pool Cooling System during Partial Loss of Heat Sink Accident

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Susyadi; Endiah, P. H.; Sukmanto, D.; Andi, S. E.; Syaiful, B.; Hendro, T.; Geni, R. S.

    2018-02-01

    RSG-GAS is a 30 MW reactor that is mostly used for radioisotope production and experimental activities. Recently, it is regularly operated at half of its capacity for efficiency reason. During an accident, especially loss of heat sink, the role of its pool cooling system is very important to dump decay heat. An analysis using single failure approach and partial modeling of RELAP5 performed by S. Dibyo, 2010 shows that there is no significant increase in the coolant temperature if this system is properly functioned. However lessons learned from the Fukushima accident revealed that an accident can happen due to multiple failures. Considering ageing of the reactor, in this research the role of pool cooling system is to be investigated for a partial loss of heat sink accident which is at the same time the protection system fails to scram the reactor when being operated at 15 MW. The purpose is to clarify the transient characteristics and the final state of the coolant temperature. The method used is by simulating the system in RELAP5 code. Calculation results shows the pool cooling systems reduce coolant temperature for about 1 K as compared without activating them. The result alsoreveals that when the reactor is being operated at half of its rated power, it is still in safe condition for a partial loss of heat sink accident without scram.

  12. The development and evaluation of accident predictive models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maleck, T. L.

    1980-12-01

    A mathematical model that will predict the incremental change in the dependent variables (accident types) resulting from changes in the independent variables is developed. The end product is a tool for estimating the expected number and type of accidents for a given highway segment. The data segments (accidents) are separated in exclusive groups via a branching process and variance is further reduced using stepwise multiple regression. The standard error of the estimate is calculated for each model. The dependent variables are the frequency, density, and rate of 18 types of accidents among the independent variables are: district, county, highway geometry, land use, type of zone, speed limit, signal code, type of intersection, number of intersection legs, number of turn lanes, left-turn control, all-red interval, average daily traffic, and outlier code. Models for nonintersectional accidents did not fit nor validate as well as models for intersectional accidents.

  13. Glider accidents: an analysis of 143 cases, 2001-2005.

    PubMed

    van Doorn, Robert R A; de Voogt, Alexander J

    2007-01-01

    The majority of aviation crashes and casualties take place in general and sport aviation. Although gliding has gained popularity in recent decades, we could find no systematic analysis of glider accidents. This study determined factors associated with both non-fatal and fatal glider accidents to document their position within sport and general aviation accidents, and to suggest preventive measures and improvements. We performed a retrospective review of glider accidents for the period 2001-2005 in the database maintained by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). A total of 117 non-fatal and 26 fatal glider accidents were reported for the 5-yr period. Adverse weather was the cause in 20% of all non-fatal accidents, 60% of which occurred in the cruise phase. Logistic regression revealed that fatal accidents were predicted by pilot error, flight phase, and home-built aircraft. Factors contributing to glider crashes are specific to this type of sport aviation. Owners of home-built gliders should pay particular attention to the aircraft's specifications and design limits.

  14. Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 Accident Progression Uncertainty Analysis and Implications for Decommissioning of Fukushima Reactors - Volume I.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gauntt, Randall O.; Mattie, Patrick D.

    Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has conducted an uncertainty analysis (UA) on the Fukushima Daiichi unit (1F1) accident progression with the MELCOR code. The model used was developed for a previous accident reconstruction investigation jointly sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). That study focused on reconstructing the accident progressions, as postulated by the limited plant data. This work was focused evaluation of uncertainty in core damage progression behavior and its effect on key figures-of-merit (e.g., hydrogen production, reactor damage state, fraction of intact fuel, vessel lower head failure). The primary intent of this studymore » was to characterize the range of predicted damage states in the 1F1 reactor considering state of knowledge uncertainties associated with MELCOR modeling of core damage progression and to generate information that may be useful in informing the decommissioning activities that will be employed to defuel the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Additionally, core damage progression variability inherent in MELCOR modeling numerics is investigated.« less

  15. Historical analysis of US pipeline accidents triggered by natural hazards

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Girgin, Serkan; Krausmann, Elisabeth

    2015-04-01

    Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, or lightning, can initiate accidents in oil and gas pipelines with potentially major consequences on the population or the environment due to toxic releases, fires and explosions. Accidents of this type are also referred to as Natech events. Many major accidents highlight the risk associated with natural-hazard impact on pipelines transporting dangerous substances. For instance, in the USA in 1994, flooding of the San Jacinto River caused the rupture of 8 and the undermining of 29 pipelines by the floodwaters. About 5.5 million litres of petroleum and related products were spilled into the river and ignited. As a results, 547 people were injured and significant environmental damage occurred. Post-incident analysis is a valuable tool for better understanding the causes, dynamics and impacts of pipeline Natech accidents in support of future accident prevention and mitigation. Therefore, data on onshore hazardous-liquid pipeline accidents collected by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) was analysed. For this purpose, a database-driven incident data analysis system was developed to aid the rapid review and categorization of PHMSA incident reports. Using an automated data-mining process followed by a peer review of the incident records and supported by natural hazard databases and external information sources, the pipeline Natechs were identified. As a by-product of the data-collection process, the database now includes over 800,000 incidents from all causes in industrial and transportation activities, which are automatically classified in the same way as the PHMSA record. This presentation describes the data collection and reviewing steps conducted during the study, provides information on the developed database and data analysis tools, and reports the findings of a statistical analysis of the identified hazardous liquid pipeline incidents in terms of accident dynamics and

  16. FY2017 Updates to the SAS4A/SASSYS-1 Safety Analysis Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fanning, T. H.

    The SAS4A/SASSYS-1 safety analysis software is used to perform deterministic analysis of anticipated events as well as design-basis and beyond-design-basis accidents for advanced fast reactors. It plays a central role in the analysis of U.S. DOE conceptual designs, proposed test and demonstration reactors, and in domestic and international collaborations. This report summarizes the code development activities that have taken place during FY2017. Extensions to the void and cladding reactivity feedback models have been implemented, and Control System capabilities have been improved through a new virtual data acquisition system for plant state variables and an additional Block Signal for a variablemore » lag compensator to represent reactivity feedback for novel shutdown devices. Current code development and maintenance needs are also summarized in three key areas: software quality assurance, modeling improvements, and maintenance of related tools. With ongoing support, SAS4A/SASSYS-1 can continue to fulfill its growing role in fast reactor safety analysis and help solidify DOE’s leadership role in fast reactor safety both domestically and in international collaborations.« less

  17. [An analysis of industrial accidents in the working field with a particular emphasis on repeated accidents].

    PubMed

    Wakisaka, I; Yanagihashi, T; Tomari, T; Sato, M

    1990-03-01

    The present study is based on an analysis of routinely submitted reports of occupational accidents experienced by the workers of industrial enterprises under the jurisdiction of Kagoshima Labor Standard Office during a 5-year period 1983 to 1987. Officially notified injuries serious enough to keep employees away from their job for work at least 4 days were utilized in this study. Data was classified so as to give an observed frequency distribution for workers having any specified number of accidents. Also, the accident rate which is an indicator of the risk of accident was compared among different occupations, between age groups and between the sexes. Results obtained are as follows; 1) For the combined total of 6,324 accident cases for 8 types of occupation (Construction, Transportation, Mining & Quarrying, Forestry, Food manufacture, Lumber & Woodcraft, Manufacturing industry and Other business), the number of those who had at least one accident was 6,098, of which 5,837 were injured only once, 208 twice, 21 three times and 2 four times. When occupation type was fixed, however, the number of workers having one, two, three and four times of accidents were 5,895, 182, 19 and 2, respectively. This suggests that some workers are likely to have experienced repeated accidents in more than one type of occupation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  18. Anthropotechnological analysis of industrial accidents in Brazil.

    PubMed Central

    Binder, M. C.; de Almeida, I. M.; Monteau, M.

    1999-01-01

    The Brazilian Ministry of Labour has been attempting to modify the norms used to analyse industrial accidents in the country. For this purpose, in 1994 it tried to make compulsory use of the causal tree approach to accident analysis, an approach developed in France during the 1970s, without having previously determined whether it is suitable for use under the industrial safety conditions that prevail in most Brazilian firms. In addition, opposition from Brazilian employers has blocked the proposed changes to the norms. The present study employed anthropotechnology to analyse experimental application of the causal tree method to work-related accidents in industrial firms in the region of Botucatu, São Paulo. Three work-related accidents were examined in three industrial firms representative of local, national and multinational companies. On the basis of the accidents analysed in this study, the rationale for the use of the causal tree method in Brazil can be summarized for each type of firm as follows: the method is redundant if there is a predominance of the type of risk whose elimination or neutralization requires adoption of conventional industrial safety measures (firm representative of local enterprises); the method is worth while if the company's specific technical risks have already largely been eliminated (firm representative of national enterprises); and the method is particularly appropriate if the firm has a good safety record and the causes of accidents are primarily related to industrial organization and management (multinational enterprise). PMID:10680249

  19. The kinetics of aerosol particle formation and removal in NPP severe accidents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zatevakhin, Mikhail A.; Arefiev, Valentin K.; Semashko, Sergey E.

    2016-06-08

    Severe Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accidents are accompanied by release of a massive amount of energy, radioactive products and hydrogen into the atmosphere of the NPP containment. A valid estimation of consequences of such accidents can only be carried out through the use of the integrated codes comprising a description of the basic processes which determine the consequences. A brief description of a coupled aerosol and thermal–hydraulic code to be used for the calculation of the aerosol kinetics within the NPP containment in case of a severe accident is given. The code comprises a KIN aerosol unit integrated into themore » KUPOL-M thermal–hydraulic code. Some features of aerosol behavior in severe NPP accidents are briefly described.« less

  20. Prediction accident triangle in maintenance of underground mine facilities using Poisson distribution analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khuluqi, M. H.; Prapdito, R. R.; Sambodo, F. P.

    2018-04-01

    In Indonesia, mining is categorized as a hazardous industry. In recent years, a dramatic increase of mining equipment and technological complexities had resulted in higher maintenance expectations that accompanied by the changes in the working conditions, especially on safety. Ensuring safety during the process of conducting maintenance works in underground mine is important as an integral part of accident prevention programs. Accident triangle has provided a support to safety practitioner to draw a road map in preventing accidents. Poisson distribution is appropriate for the analysis of accidents at a specific site in a given time period. Based on the analysis of accident statistics in the underground mine maintenance of PT. Freeport Indonesia from 2011 through 2016, it is found that 12 minor accidents for 1 major accident and 66 equipment damages for 1 major accident as a new value of accident triangle. The result can be used for the future need for improving the accident prevention programs.

  1. INDUSTRIAL/MILITARY ACTIVITY-INITIATED ACCIDENT SCREENING ANALYSIS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    D.A. Kalinich

    1999-09-27

    Impacts due to nearby installations and operations were determined in the Preliminary MGDS Hazards Analysis (CRWMS M&O 1996) to be potentially applicable to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. This determination was conservatively based on limited knowledge of the potential activities ongoing on or off the Nevada Test Site (NTS). It is intended that the Industrial/Military Activity-Initiated Accident Screening Analysis provided herein will meet the requirements of the ''Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants'' (NRC 1987) in establishing whether this external event can be screened from further consideration or must be includedmore » as a design basis event (DBE) in the development of accident scenarios for the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). This analysis only considers issues related to preclosure radiological safety. Issues important to waste isolation as related to impact from nearby installations will be covered in the MGR performance assessment.« less

  2. Scenario analysis of freight vehicle accident risks in Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Ming-Chih; Su, Chien-Chih

    2004-07-01

    This study develops a quantitative risk model by utilizing Generalized Linear Interactive Model (GLIM) to analyze the major freight vehicle accidents in Taiwan. Eight scenarios are established by interacting three categorical variables of driver ages, vehicle types and road types, each of which contains two levels. The database that consists of 2043 major accidents occurring between 1994 and 1998 in Taiwan is utilized to fit and calibrate the model parameters. The empirical results indicate that accident rates of freight vehicles in Taiwan were high in the scenarios involving trucks and non-freeway systems, while; accident consequences were severe in the scenarios involving mature drivers or non-freeway systems. Empirical evidences also show that there is no significant relationship between accident rates and accident consequences. This is to stress that safety studies that describe risk merely as accident rates rather than the combination of accident rates and consequences by definition might lead to biased risk perceptions. Finally, the study recommends using number of vehicle as an alternative of traffic exposure in commercial vehicle risk analysis. The merits of this would be that it is simple and thus reliable; meanwhile, the resulted risk that is termed as fatalities per vehicle could provide clear and direct policy implications for insurance practices and safety regulations.

  3. Bus accident analysis of routes with/without bus priority.

    PubMed

    Goh, Kelvin Chun Keong; Currie, Graham; Sarvi, Majid; Logan, David

    2014-04-01

    This paper summarises findings on road safety performance and bus-involved accidents in Melbourne along roads where bus priority measures had been applied. Results from an empirical analysis of the accident types revealed significant reduction in the proportion of accidents involving buses hitting stationary objects and vehicles, which suggests the effect of bus priority in addressing manoeuvrability issues for buses. A mixed-effects negative binomial (MENB) regression and back-propagation neural network (BPNN) modelling of bus accidents considering wider influences on accident rates at a route section level also revealed significant safety benefits when bus priority is provided. Sensitivity analyses done on the BPNN model showed general agreement in the predicted accident frequency between both models. The slightly better performance recorded by the MENB model results suggests merits in adopting a mixed effects modelling approach for accident count prediction in practice given its capability to account for unobserved location and time-specific factors. A major implication of this research is that bus priority in Melbourne's context acts to improve road safety and should be a major consideration for road management agencies when implementing bus priority and road schemes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Content analysis of 100 consecutive media reports of amusement ride accidents.

    PubMed

    Woodcock, Kathryn

    2008-01-01

    Accident investigations influence public perceptions and safety management strategies by determining the amount and type of information learned about the accident. To examine the factors considered in investigations, this study used a content analysis of 100 consecutive media reports of amusement ride accidents from an online media archive. Fatalities were overrepresented in the media dataset compared with U.S. national estimates. For analysis of reports, a modified "Haddon matrix" was developed using human-factors categories. This approach was useful to show differences between the proportions and types of factors considered in the different accident stages and between employee and rider accidents. Employee injury accounts primarily referred to the employee's task and to the employee. Rider injury reports were primarily related to the ride device itself and rarely referred to the rider's "task", social influences, or the rider's own actions, and only some reference to their characteristics. Qualitatively, it was evident that more human factors analysis is required to augment scant pre-failure information about the task, social environment, and the person, to make that information available for prevention of amusement ride accidents. By design, this study reflected information reported by the media. Future work will use the same techniques with official reports.

  5. NASA's Accident Precursor Analysis Process and the International Space Station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Groen, Frank; Lutomski, Michael

    2010-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation reviews the implementation of Accident Precursor Analysis (APA), as well as the evaluation of In-Flight Investigations (IFI) and Problem Reporting and Corrective Action (PRACA) data for the identification of unrecognized accident potentials on the International Space Station.

  6. Major Accidents (Gray Swans) Likelihood Modeling Using Accident Precursors and Approximate Reasoning.

    PubMed

    Khakzad, Nima; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul

    2015-07-01

    Compared to the remarkable progress in risk analysis of normal accidents, the risk analysis of major accidents has not been so well-established, partly due to the complexity of such accidents and partly due to low probabilities involved. The issue of low probabilities normally arises from the scarcity of major accidents' relevant data since such accidents are few and far between. In this work, knowing that major accidents are frequently preceded by accident precursors, a novel precursor-based methodology has been developed for likelihood modeling of major accidents in critical infrastructures based on a unique combination of accident precursor data, information theory, and approximate reasoning. For this purpose, we have introduced an innovative application of information analysis to identify the most informative near accident of a major accident. The observed data of the near accident were then used to establish predictive scenarios to foresee the occurrence of the major accident. We verified the methodology using offshore blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico, and then demonstrated its application to dam breaches in the United Sates. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  7. An Evidential Reasoning-Based CREAM to Human Reliability Analysis in Maritime Accident Process.

    PubMed

    Wu, Bing; Yan, Xinping; Wang, Yang; Soares, C Guedes

    2017-10-01

    This article proposes a modified cognitive reliability and error analysis method (CREAM) for estimating the human error probability in the maritime accident process on the basis of an evidential reasoning approach. This modified CREAM is developed to precisely quantify the linguistic variables of the common performance conditions and to overcome the problem of ignoring the uncertainty caused by incomplete information in the existing CREAM models. Moreover, this article views maritime accident development from the sequential perspective, where a scenario- and barrier-based framework is proposed to describe the maritime accident process. This evidential reasoning-based CREAM approach together with the proposed accident development framework are applied to human reliability analysis of a ship capsizing accident. It will facilitate subjective human reliability analysis in different engineering systems where uncertainty exists in practice. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  8. National and regional analysis of road accidents in Spain.

    PubMed

    Tolón-Becerra, A; Lastra-Bravo, X; Flores-Parra, I

    2013-01-01

    In Spain, the absolute fatality figures decreased almost 50 percent between 1998 and 2009. Despite this great effort, road mortality is still of great concern to political authorities. Further progress requires efficient road safety policy based on an optimal set of measures and targets that consider the initial conditions and characteristics in each region. This study attempts to analyze road accidents in Spain and its provinces in time and space during 1998-2009. First, we analyzed daily, monthly, and nationwide (NUTS 0) development of road accidents, the correlation between logarithmic transformations of road accidents and territorial and socioeconomic variables, the causality by simple linear regression of road accidents and territorial and socioeconomic variables, and preliminary frequency by fast Fourier transform. Then we analyzed the annual trend in accidents in the Spanish provinces (NUTS 3) and found a correlation between the logarithmic transformations of the mortality rate, fatalities per fatal accident, and accidents resulting in injuries per inhabitant variables and population, population density, gross domestic product (GDP), length of road network, and area. Finally, causality was analyzed by simple linear regression. The most outstanding results were the negative correlation between mortality rate and population density in Spanish provinces, which has increased over time, and that road accidents in Spain have an approximate periodicity of 57 days. The fast Fourier transform analysis of road accident frequency in Spain was useful in identifying the periodic, harmonic components of accidents and casualties. The periodicity observed both for the period 1998-2009 and by year showed that the highest intensity in road accidents was bimonthly, despite the lower number of accidents and casualties in the spectra of amplitude and power and efforts to reduce the intensity and concentration during off-season travel (summer and December).

  9. Pedestrian injury causation study (pedestrian accident typing)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1982-08-01

    A new computerized pedestrian accident typing procedure was tested on 1,997 cases from the Pedestrian Injury Causation Study (PICS). Two coding procedures were used to determine the effects of quantity and quality of information on accident typing ac...

  10. Analysis of Child-related Road Traffic Accidents in Vietnam

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vu, Anh Tuan; Nguyen, Dinh Vinh Man

    2018-04-01

    In recent years, the number of road traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries have been decreasing, but the figures of children road traffic accidents have been increasing in Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam. This fact strongly calls for implementing effective solutions to improve traffic safety for children by the local government. This paper presents the trends, patterns and causes of road traffic accidents involving children based on the analysis of road traffic accident data over the period 2010-2015 and the video-based observations of road traffic law violations at 15 typical school gates and 10 typical roads. The results could be useful for the city government to formulate solutions to effectively improve traffic safety for children in Ho Chi Minh City and other cities in Vietnam.

  11. Truck accidents at freeway ramps : data analysis and high-risk site identification

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1998-01-01

    To examine the relationship of ramp design to truck accident rates, this paper presents an analysis of truck accidents in Washington State, plus a comparison to limited data from Colorado and California. The authors group freeway truck accidents by r...

  12. FERRET data analysis code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schmittroth, F.

    1979-09-01

    A documentation of the FERRET data analysis code is given. The code provides a way to combine related measurements and calculations in a consistent evaluation. Basically a very general least-squares code, it is oriented towards problems frequently encountered in nuclear data and reactor physics. A strong emphasis is on the proper treatment of uncertainties and correlations and in providing quantitative uncertainty estimates. Documentation includes a review of the method, structure of the code, input formats, and examples.

  13. Methodology, status and plans for development and assessment of the code ATHLET

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Teschendorff, V.; Austregesilo, H.; Lerchl, G.

    1997-07-01

    The thermal-hydraulic computer code ATHLET (Analysis of THermal-hydraulics of LEaks and Transients) is being developed by the Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) for the analysis of anticipated and abnormal plant transients, small and intermediate leaks as well as large breaks in light water reactors. The aim of the code development is to cover the whole spectrum of design basis and beyond design basis accidents (without core degradation) for PWRs and BWRs with only one code. The main code features are: advanced thermal-hydraulics; modular code architecture; separation between physical models and numerical methods; pre- and post-processing tools; portability. The codemore » has features that are of special interest for applications to small leaks and transients with accident management, e.g. initialization by a steady-state calculation, full-range drift-flux model, dynamic mixture level tracking. The General Control Simulation Module of ATHLET is a flexible tool for the simulation of the balance-of-plant and control systems including the various operator actions in the course of accident sequences with AM measures. The code development is accompained by a systematic and comprehensive validation program. A large number of integral experiments and separate effect tests, including the major International Standard Problems, have been calculated by GRS and by independent organizations. The ATHLET validation matrix is a well balanced set of integral and separate effects tests derived from the CSNI proposal emphasizing, however, the German combined ECC injection system which was investigated in the UPTF, PKL and LOBI test facilities.« less

  14. Analysis on Dangerous Source of Large Safety Accident in Storage Tank Area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tong; Li, Ying; Xie, Tiansheng; Liu, Yu; Zhu, Xueyuan

    2018-01-01

    The difference between a large safety accident and a general accident is that the consequences of a large safety accident are particularly serious. To study the tank area which factors directly or indirectly lead to the occurrence of large-sized safety accidents. According to the three kinds of hazard source theory and the consequence cause analysis of the super safety accident, this paper analyzes the dangerous source of the super safety accident in the tank area from four aspects, such as energy source, large-sized safety accident reason, management missing, environmental impact Based on the analysis of three kinds of hazard sources and environmental analysis to derive the main risk factors and the AHP evaluation model is established, and after rigorous and scientific calculation, the weights of the related factors in four kinds of risk factors and each type of risk factors are obtained. The result of analytic hierarchy process shows that management reasons is the most important one, and then the environmental factors and the direct cause and Energy source. It should be noted that although the direct cause is relatively low overall importance, the direct cause of Failure of emergency measures and Failure of prevention and control facilities in greater weight.

  15. The accident analysis of mobile mine machinery in Indian opencast coal mines.

    PubMed

    Kumar, R; Ghosh, A K

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the analysis of large mining machinery related accidents in Indian opencast coal mines. The trends of coal production, share of mining methods in production, machinery deployment in open cast mines, size and population of machinery, accidents due to machinery, types and causes of accidents have been analysed from the year 1995 to 2008. The scrutiny of accidents during this period reveals that most of the responsible factors are machine reversal, haul road design, human fault, operator's fault, machine fault, visibility and dump design. Considering the types of machines, namely, dumpers, excavators, dozers and loaders together the maximum number of fatal accidents has been caused by operator's faults and human faults jointly during the period from 1995 to 2008. The novel finding of this analysis is that large machines with state-of-the-art safety system did not reduce the fatal accidents in Indian opencast coal mines.

  16. Amino acid codes in mitochondria as possible clues to primitive codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jukes, T. H.

    1981-01-01

    Differences between mitochondrial codes and the universal code indicate that an evolutionary simplification has taken place, rather than a return to a more primitive code. However, these differences make it evident that the universal code is not the only code possible, and therefore earlier codes may have differed markedly from the previous code. The present universal code is probably a 'frozen accident.' The change in CUN codons from leucine to threonine (Neurospora vs. yeast mitochondria) indicates that neutral or near-neutral changes occurred in the corresponding proteins when this code change took place, caused presumably by a mutation in a tRNA gene.

  17. Systemic accident analysis: examining the gap between research and practice.

    PubMed

    Underwood, Peter; Waterson, Patrick

    2013-06-01

    The systems approach is arguably the dominant concept within accident analysis research. Viewing accidents as a result of uncontrolled system interactions, it forms the theoretical basis of various systemic accident analysis (SAA) models and methods. Despite the proposed benefits of SAA, such as an improved description of accident causation, evidence within the scientific literature suggests that these techniques are not being used in practice and that a research-practice gap exists. The aim of this study was to explore the issues stemming from research and practice which could hinder the awareness, adoption and usage of SAA. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 safety experts from ten countries and a variety of industries, including rail, aviation and maritime. This study suggests that the research-practice gap should be closed and efforts to bridge the gap should focus on ensuring that systemic methods meet the needs of practitioners and improving the communication of SAA research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Genitourinary injuries after traffic accidents: Analysis of a registry of 162,690 victims.

    PubMed

    Terrier, Jean-Etienne; Paparel, Philippe; Gadegbeku, Blandine; Ruffion, Alain; Jenkins, Lawrence C; N'Diaye, Amina

    2017-06-01

    Traffic accidents are the most frequent cause of genitourinary injuries (GUI). Kidney injuries after trauma have been well described. However, there exists a paucity of data on other traumatic GUI after traffic accidents. The objective of this study was to analyze the frequency and type of all GUI, by user category, after traffic accidents. Patient cases were extracted from the trauma registry of the French department of Rhone from 1996 to 2013. We assessed the urogenital injuries presented by each of road user's categories. Severity injuries were coded with the Abbreviated Injury Scale and the Injury Severity Score. Kidney trauma was mapped with the classification of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Multivariate prediction models were used for analysis of data. Of 162,690 victims, 963 presented with GUI (0.59%). 47% were motorcyclists, 22% were in a car, 18% on bicycles, and 9% were pedestrians. The most common organ injury was kidney (41%) followed by testicular (23%). Among the 208 motorists with a GUI, kidney (70%), bladder (10%), and adrenal gland (9%) were the most frequent lesions. Among the 453 motorcyclist victims with GUI, kidney (35%) and testicular (38%) traumas were the most frequent and 62% of injuries involved external genitalia. There were 175 cyclists with GUI, 70% of injuries involved external genitalia; penile traumas (23%) were the most frequent. In total, there were 395 kidney injuries, most being low grade. According to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma kidney injuries were grade I, 59%; grade II, 11%; grade III, 16%; grade IV, 9%; grade V, 3%; and indeterminate, 2%. GUI is an infrequent trauma after traffic accidents, with kidneys being the most commonly injured. Physicians must maintain a high awareness for external genitalia injuries in motorcyclists and cyclists. Prognostic and epidemiologic study, level III.

  19. Who by accident? The social morphology of car accidents.

    PubMed

    Factor, Roni; Yair, Gad; Mahalel, David

    2010-09-01

    Prior studies in the sociology of accidents have shown that different social groups have different rates of accident involvement. This study extends those studies by implementing Bourdieu's relational perspective of social space to systematically explore the homology between drivers' social characteristics and their involvement in specific types of motor vehicle accident. Using a large database that merges official Israeli road-accident records with socioeconomic data from two censuses, this research maps the social order of road accidents through multiple correspondence analysis. Extending prior studies, the results show that different social groups indeed tend to be involved in motor vehicle accidents of different types and severity. For example, we find that drivers from low socioeconomic backgrounds are overinvolved in severe accidents with fatal outcomes. The new findings reported here shed light on the social regularity of road accidents and expose new facets in the social organization of death. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

  20. The Role of Spatial Disorientation in Fatal General Aviation Accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scheuring, RIchard

    2005-01-01

    In-flight Spatial Disorientation (SD) in pilots is a serious threat to aviation safety. Indeed, SD may play a much larger role in aviation accidents than the approximate 6-8% reported by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) each year, because some accidents coded by the NTSB as aircraft control-not maintained (ACNM) may actually result from SD. The purpose of this study is to determine whether SD is underestimated as a cause of fatal general aviation (GA) accidents in the NTSB database. Fatal GA airplane accidents occurring between January 1995 and December 1999 were reviewed from the NTSB aviation accident database. Cases coded as ACNM or SD as the probable cause were selected for review by a panel of aerospace medicine specialists. Using a rating scale, each rater was instructed to determine if SD was the probable cause of the accident. Agreement between the raters and agreement between the raters and the NTSB were evaluated by Kappa statistics. The raters agreed that 11 out of 20 (55%) accidents coded by the NTSB as ACNM were probably caused by SD (p less than 0.05). Agreement between the raters and the NTSB did not reach significance (p greater than 0.05). The 95% C.I. for the sampling population estimated that between 33-77% of cases that the NTSB identified as ACNM could be identified by aerospace medicine experts as SD. Aerospace medicine specialists agreed that some cases coded by the NTSB as ACNM were probably caused by SD. Consequently, a larger number of accidents may be caused by the pilot succumbing to SD than indicated in the NTSB database. This new information should encourage regulating agencies to insure that pilots receive SD recognition training, enabling them to take appropriate corrective actions during flight. This could lead to new training standards, ultimately saving lives among GA airplane pilots.

  1. Wet weather highway accident analysis and skid resistance data management system (volume I).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1992-06-01

    The objectives and scope of this research are to establish an effective methodology for wet weather accident analysis and to develop a database management system to facilitate information processing and storage for the accident analysis process, skid...

  2. Severe Accident Scoping Simulations of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts for BWRs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Robb, Kevin R.

    2015-08-01

    CrAl would tend to generate heat and hydrogen from oxidation at a slower rate compared to the zirconium-based alloys in use today. The previous study, [2], of the FeCrAl ATF concept during station blackout (SBO) severe accident scenarios in BWRs was based on simulating short term SBO (STSBO), long term SBO (LTSBO), and modified SBO scenarios occurring in a BWR-4 reactor with MARK-I containment. The analysis indicated that FeCrAl had the potential to delay the onset of fuel failure by a few hours depending on the scenario, and it could delay lower head failure by several hours. The analysis demonstrated reduced in-vessel hydrogen production. However, the work was preliminary and was based on limited knowledge of material properties for FeCrAl. Limitations of the MELCOR code were identified for direct use in modeling ATF concepts. This effort used an older version of MELCOR (1.8.5). Since these analyses, the BWR model has been updated for use in MELCOR 1.8.6 [10], and more representative material properties for FeCrAl have been modeled. Sections 2 4 present updated analyses for the FeCrAl ATF concept response during severe accidents in a BWR. The purpose of the study is to estimate the potential gains afforded by the FeCrAl ATF concept during BWR SBO scenarios.« less

  3. Why Data Linkage? The Importance of CODES (Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1996-06-01

    This report briefly explains the computerized linked data system, Crash Outcome : Data Evaluation System (CODES) that provides greater depth accident data : analysis. The linking of data helps researchers to understand the nature of : traffic acciden...

  4. Estimating the causes of traffic accidents using logistic regression and discriminant analysis.

    PubMed

    Karacasu, Murat; Ergül, Barış; Altin Yavuz, Arzu

    2014-01-01

    Factors that affect traffic accidents have been analysed in various ways. In this study, we use the methods of logistic regression and discriminant analysis to determine the damages due to injury and non-injury accidents in the Eskisehir Province. Data were obtained from the accident reports of the General Directorate of Security in Eskisehir; 2552 traffic accidents between January and December 2009 were investigated regarding whether they resulted in injury. According to the results, the effects of traffic accidents were reflected in the variables. These results provide a wealth of information that may aid future measures toward the prevention of undesired results.

  5. Structural Analysis for the American Airlines Flight 587 Accident Investigation: Global Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Young, Richard D.; Lovejoy, Andrew E.; Hilburger, Mark W.; Moore, David F.

    2005-01-01

    NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) supported the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the American Airlines Flight 587 accident investigation due to LaRC's expertise in high-fidelity structural analysis and testing of composite structures and materials. A Global Analysis Team from LaRC reviewed the manufacturer s design and certification procedures, developed finite element models and conducted structural analyses, and participated jointly with the NTSB and Airbus in subcomponent tests conducted at Airbus in Hamburg, Germany. The Global Analysis Team identified no significant or obvious deficiencies in the Airbus certification and design methods. Analysis results from the LaRC team indicated that the most-likely failure scenario was failure initiation at the right rear main attachment fitting (lug), followed by an unstable progression of failure of all fin-to-fuselage attachments and separation of the VTP from the aircraft. Additionally, analysis results indicated that failure initiates at the final observed maximum fin loading condition in the accident, when the VTP was subjected to loads that were at minimum 1.92 times the design limit load condition for certification. For certification, the VTP is only required to support loads of 1.5 times design limit load without catastrophic failure. The maximum loading during the accident was shown to significantly exceed the certification requirement. Thus, the structure appeared to perform in a manner consistent with its design and certification, and failure is attributed to VTP loads greater than expected.

  6. Radioactive release during nuclear accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nur Ain Sulaiman, Siti; Mohamed, Faizal; Rahim, Ahmad Nabil Ab

    2018-01-01

    Nuclear accidents that occurred in Chernobyl and Fukushima have initiated many research interests to understand the cause and mechanism of radioactive release within reactor compound and to the environment. Common types of radionuclide release are the fission products from the irradiated fuel rod itself. In case of nuclear accident, the focus of monitoring will be mostly on the release of noble gases, I-131 and Cs-137. As these are the only accidents have been rated within International Nuclear Events Scale (INES) Level 7, the radioactive release to the environment was one of the critical insights to be monitored. It was estimated that the release of radioactive material to the atmosphere due to Fukushima accident was approximately 10% of the Chernobyl accident. By referring to the previous reports using computational code systems to model the release rate, the release activity of I-131 and Cs-137 in Chernobyl was significantly higher compare to Fukushima. The simulation code also showed that Chernobyl had higher release rate of both radionuclides on the day of accident. Other factors affecting the radioactive release for Fukushima and Chernobyl accidents such as the current reactor technology and safety measures are also compared for discussion.

  7. [A spatially explicit analysis of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in Berlin].

    PubMed

    Lakes, Tobia

    2017-12-01

    In many German cities and counties, sustainable mobility concepts that strengthen pedestrian and cyclist traffic are promoted. From the perspectives of urban development, traffic planning and public healthcare, a spatially differentiated analysis of traffic accident data is decisive. 1) The identification of spatial and temporal patterns of the distribution of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, 2) the identification of hotspots and exploration of possible underlying causes and 3) the critical discussion of benefits and challenges of the results and the derivation of conclusions. Spatio-temporal distributions of data from accident statistics in Berlin involving pedestrians and cyclists from 2011 to 2015 were analysed with geographic information systems (GIS). While the total number of accidents remains relatively stable for pedestrian and cyclist accidents, the spatial distribution analysis shows, however, that there are significant spatial clusters (hotspots) of traffic accidents with a strong concentration in the inner city area. In a critical discussion, the benefits of geographic concepts are identified, such as spatially explicit health data (in this case traffic accident data), the importance of the integration of other data sources for the evaluation of the health impact of areas (traffic accident statistics of the police), and the possibilities and limitations of spatial-temporal data analysis (spatial point-density analyses) for the derivation of decision-supported recommendations and for the evaluation of policy measures of health prevention and of health-relevant urban development.

  8. Quality evaluation of official accident reports conducted by Labour Authorities in Andalusia (Spain).

    PubMed

    Salguero-Caparros, Francisco; Suarez-Cebador, Manuel; Carrillo-Castrillo, Jesús A; Rubio-Romero, Juan Carlos

    2018-01-01

    A public accident investigation is carried out when the consequences of the incident are significant or the accident has occurred in unusual circumstances. We evaluated the quality of the official accident investigations being conducted by Safety Specialists of the Labour Authorities in Andalusia. To achieve this objective, we analysed 98 occupational accident investigations conducted by the Labour Authorities in Andalusia in the last quarter of 2014. Various phases in the accident investigation process were examined, such as the use of the Eurostat variables within European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW), detection of causes, determination of preventive measures, cost analysis of the accidents, identification of noncompliance with legal requirements or the investigation method used. The results of this study show that 77% of the official occupational accident investigation reports analysed were conducted in accordance with all the quality criteria recommended in the literature. To enhance glogal learning, and optimize allocation of resources, we propose the development of a harmonized European model for the public investigation of occupational accidents. Further it would be advisable to create a common classification and coding system for the causes of accidents for all European Union Member States.

  9. Domino effect in chemical accidents: main features and accident sequences.

    PubMed

    Darbra, R M; Palacios, Adriana; Casal, Joaquim

    2010-11-15

    The main features of domino accidents in process/storage plants and in the transportation of hazardous materials were studied through an analysis of 225 accidents involving this effect. Data on these accidents, which occurred after 1961, were taken from several sources. Aspects analyzed included the accident scenario, the type of accident, the materials involved, the causes and consequences and the most common accident sequences. The analysis showed that the most frequent causes are external events (31%) and mechanical failure (29%). Storage areas (35%) and process plants (28%) are by far the most common settings for domino accidents. Eighty-nine per cent of the accidents involved flammable materials, the most frequent of which was LPG. The domino effect sequences were analyzed using relative probability event trees. The most frequent sequences were explosion→fire (27.6%), fire→explosion (27.5%) and fire→fire (17.8%). Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. MELCOR simulations of the severe accident at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cardoni, Jeffrey; Gauntt, Randall; Kalinich, Donald

    In response to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Energy agreed to jointly sponsor an accident reconstruction study as a means of assessing the severe accident modeling capability of the MELCOR code. Objectives of the project included reconstruction of the accident progressions using computer models and accident data, and validation of the MELCOR code and the Fukushima models against plant data. A MELCOR 2.1 model of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor is developed using plant-specific information and accident-specific boundary conditions, which involve considerable uncertainty duemore » to the inherent nature of severe accidents. Publicly available thermal-hydraulic data and radioactivity release estimates have evolved significantly since the accidents. Such data are expected to continually change as the reactors are decommissioned and more measurements are performed. As a result, the MELCOR simulations in this work primarily use boundary conditions that are based on available plant data as of May 2012.« less

  11. MELCOR simulations of the severe accident at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3

    DOE PAGES

    Cardoni, Jeffrey; Gauntt, Randall; Kalinich, Donald; ...

    2014-05-01

    In response to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Energy agreed to jointly sponsor an accident reconstruction study as a means of assessing the severe accident modeling capability of the MELCOR code. Objectives of the project included reconstruction of the accident progressions using computer models and accident data, and validation of the MELCOR code and the Fukushima models against plant data. A MELCOR 2.1 model of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor is developed using plant-specific information and accident-specific boundary conditions, which involve considerable uncertainty duemore » to the inherent nature of severe accidents. Publicly available thermal-hydraulic data and radioactivity release estimates have evolved significantly since the accidents. Such data are expected to continually change as the reactors are decommissioned and more measurements are performed. As a result, the MELCOR simulations in this work primarily use boundary conditions that are based on available plant data as of May 2012.« less

  12. Risk analysis of emergent water pollution accidents based on a Bayesian Network.

    PubMed

    Tang, Caihong; Yi, Yujun; Yang, Zhifeng; Sun, Jie

    2016-01-01

    To guarantee the security of water quality in water transfer channels, especially in open channels, analysis of potential emergent pollution sources in the water transfer process is critical. It is also indispensable for forewarnings and protection from emergent pollution accidents. Bridges above open channels with large amounts of truck traffic are the main locations where emergent accidents could occur. A Bayesian Network model, which consists of six root nodes and three middle layer nodes, was developed in this paper, and was employed to identify the possibility of potential pollution risk. Dianbei Bridge is reviewed as a typical bridge on an open channel of the Middle Route of the South to North Water Transfer Project where emergent traffic accidents could occur. Risk of water pollutions caused by leakage of pollutants into water is focused in this study. The risk for potential traffic accidents at the Dianbei Bridge implies a risk for water pollution in the canal. Based on survey data, statistical analysis, and domain specialist knowledge, a Bayesian Network model was established. The human factor of emergent accidents has been considered in this model. Additionally, this model has been employed to describe the probability of accidents and the risk level. The sensitive reasons for pollution accidents have been deduced. The case has also been simulated that sensitive factors are in a state of most likely to lead to accidents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Challenging the immediate causes: A work accident investigation in an oil refinery using organizational analysis.

    PubMed

    Beltran, Sandra Lorena; Vilela, Rodolfo Andrade de Gouveia; de Almeida, Ildeberto Muniz

    2018-01-01

    In many companies, investigations of accidents still blame the victims without exploring deeper causes. Those investigations are reactive and have no learning potential. This paper aims to debate the historical organizational aspects of a company whose policy was incubating an accident. The empirical data are analyzed as part of a qualitative study of an accident that occurred in an oil refinery in Brazil in 2014. To investigate and analyse this case we used one-to-one and group interviews, participant observation, Collective Analyses of Work and a documentary review. The analysis was conducted on the basis of concepts of the Organizational Analysis of the event and the Model for Analysis and Prevention of Work Accidents. The accident had its origin in the interaction of social and organizational factors, among them being: excessively standardized culture, management tools and outcome indicators that give a false sense of safety, the decision to speed up the project, the change of operator to facilitate this outcome and performance management that encourages getting around the usual barriers. The superficial accident analysis conducted by the company that ignored human and organizational factors reinforces the traditional safety culture and favors the occurrence of new accidents.

  14. Aircraft accidents.method of analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1937-01-01

    This report is a revision of NACA-TR-357. It was prepared by the Committee on Aircraft Accidents. The purpose of this report is to provide a basis for the classification and comparison of aircraft accidents, both civil and military.

  15. Preliminary analysis of the National Crash Severity Study : factors in fatal accidents

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1979-06-01

    This study investigates the fatalities on the National Crash Severity Study (NCSS) of towaway, passenger car accidents. The analysis is in three stages. First, NCSS fatalities are compared to the fatally-injured occupants reported on the Fatal Accide...

  16. Analysis of Shahid Rajaee hospital administrative data on injuries resulting from car accidents in Shiraz, Iran: 2011-2014 data.

    PubMed

    Yadollahi, Mahnaz; Ghiassee, Aida; Anvar, Mehrdad; Ghaem, Hale; Farahmand, Mohammad

    2017-02-01

    The administrative data from trauma centers could serve as potential sources of invaluable information while studying epidemiologic features of car accidents. In this cross-sectional analysis of Shahid Rajaee hospital administrative data, we aimed to evaluate patients injured in car accidents in terms of age, gender, injury severity, injured body regions and hospitalization outcome in the recent four years (2011-2014). The hospital registry was accessed at Shiraz Trauma Research Center (Shiraz, Iran) and the admission's unit data were merged with the information gathered upon discharge. A total number of 27,222 car accident patients aged over 15 years with International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) external causes of injury codes (V40.9-V49.9) were analyzed. Injury severity score and injured body regions were determined based on converting ICD-10 injury codes to Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS-98) severity codes using a domestically developed electronic algorithm. A binary logistic regression model was applied to the data to examine the contribution of all independent variables to in-hospital mortality. Men accounted for 68.9% of the injuries and the male to female ratio was 2.2:1. The age of the studied population was (34 ± 15) years, with more than 77.2% of the population located in the 15-45 years old age group. Head and neck was the most commonly injured body region (39.0%) followed by extremities (27.2%). Injury severity score (ISS) was calculated for 13,152 (48.3%) patients, of whom, 80.9% had severity scores less than 9. There were 332 patients (1.2%) admitted to the intensive care units and 422 in-hospital fatalities (1.5%) were recorded during the study period. Age above 65 years [OR = 7.4, 95% CI (5.0-10.9)], ISS above 16 [OR = 9.1, 95% CI (5.5-14.9)], sustaining a thoracic injury [OR = 7.4, 95% CI (4.6-11.9)] and head injury [OR = 4.9, 95% CI (3.1-7.6)] were the most important independent predictors of death following car

  17. Introduction of Bayesian network in risk analysis of maritime accidents in Bangladesh

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rahman, Sohanur

    2017-12-01

    Due to the unique geographic location, complex navigation environment and intense vessel traffic, a considerable number of maritime accidents occurred in Bangladesh which caused serious loss of life, property and environmental contamination. Based on the historical data of maritime accidents from 1981 to 2015, which has been collected from Department of Shipping (DOS) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), this paper conducted a risk analysis of maritime accidents by applying Bayesian network. In order to conduct this study, a Bayesian network model has been developed to find out the relation among parameters and the probability of them which affect accidents based on the accident investigation report of Bangladesh. Furthermore, number of accidents in different categories has also been investigated in this paper. Finally, some viable recommendations have been proposed in order to ensure greater safety of inland vessels in Bangladesh.

  18. A human factors analysis of fatal and serious injury accidents in Alaska, 2004-2009.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-12-01

    "This report summarizes the analysis of 97 general aviation accidents in Alaska that resulted in a fatality or serious : injury to one or more aircraft occupants for the years 2004-2009. The accidents were analyzed using the Human : Factors Analysis ...

  19. Work-related accidents among the Iranian population: a time series analysis, 2000-2011.

    PubMed

    Karimlou, Masoud; Salehi, Masoud; Imani, Mehdi; Hosseini, Agha-Fatemeh; Dehnad, Afsaneh; Vahabi, Nasim; Bakhtiyari, Mahmood

    2015-01-01

    Work-related accidents result in human suffering and economic losses and are considered as a major health problem worldwide, especially in the economically developing world. To introduce seasonal autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) models for time series analysis of work-related accident data for workers insured by the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) between 2000 and 2011. In this retrospective study, all insured people experiencing at least one work-related accident during a 10-year period were included in the analyses. We used Box-Jenkins modeling to develop a time series model of the total number of accidents. There was an average of 1476 accidents per month (1476·05±458·77, mean±SD). The final ARIMA (p,d,q) (P,D,Q)s model for fitting to data was: ARIMA(1,1,1)×(0,1,1)12 consisting of the first ordering of the autoregressive, moving average and seasonal moving average parameters with 20·942 mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The final model showed that time series analysis of ARIMA models was useful for forecasting the number of work-related accidents in Iran. In addition, the forecasted number of work-related accidents for 2011 explained the stability of occurrence of these accidents in recent years, indicating a need for preventive occupational health and safety policies such as safety inspection.

  20. Demonstration of fully coupled simplified extended station black-out accident simulation with RELAP-7

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin; Zou, Ling

    2014-10-01

    The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The RELAP-7 code develop-ment effort started in October of 2011 and by the end of the second development year, a number of physical components with simplified two phase flow capability have been de-veloped to support the simplified boiling water reactor (BWR) extended station blackout (SBO) analyses. The demonstration case includes the major components for the primary system of a BWR, as well as the safety system components for the safety relief valve (SRV), the reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC)more » system, and the wet well. Three scenar-ios for the SBO simulations have been considered. Since RELAP-7 is not a severe acci-dent analysis code, the simulation stops when fuel clad temperature reaches damage point. Scenario I represents an extreme station blackout accident without any external cooling and cooling water injection. The system pressure is controlled by automatically releasing steam through SRVs. Scenario II includes the RCIC system but without SRV. The RCIC system is fully coupled with the reactor primary system and all the major components are dynamically simulated. The third scenario includes both the RCIC system and the SRV to provide a more realistic simulation. This paper will describe the major models and dis-cuss the results for the three scenarios. The RELAP-7 simulations for the three simplified SBO scenarios show the importance of dynamically simulating the SRVs, the RCIC sys-tem, and the wet well system to the reactor safety during extended SBO accidents.« less

  1. Intrasystem Analysis Program (IAP) code summaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dobmeier, J. J.; Drozd, A. L. S.; Surace, J. A.

    1983-05-01

    This report contains detailed descriptions and capabilities of the codes that comprise the Intrasystem Analysis Program. The four codes are: Intrasystem Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Program (IEMCAP), General Electromagnetic Model for the Analysis of Complex Systems (GEMACS), Nonlinear Circuit Analysis Program (NCAP), and Wire Coupling Prediction Models (WIRE). IEMCAP is used for computer-aided evaluation of electromagnetic compatibility (ECM) at all stages of an Air Force system's life cycle, applicable to aircraft, space/missile, and ground-based systems. GEMACS utilizes a Method of Moments (MOM) formalism with the Electric Field Integral Equation (EFIE) for the solution of electromagnetic radiation and scattering problems. The code employs both full matrix decomposition and Banded Matrix Iteration solution techniques and is expressly designed for large problems. NCAP is a circuit analysis code which uses the Volterra approach to solve for the transfer functions and node voltage of weakly nonlinear circuits. The Wire Programs deal with the Application of Multiconductor Transmission Line Theory to the Prediction of Cable Coupling for specific classes of problems.

  2. [Model of Analysis and Prevention of Accidents - MAPA: tool for operational health surveillance].

    PubMed

    de Almeida, Ildeberto Muniz; Vilela, Rodolfo Andrade de Gouveia; da Silva, Alessandro José Nunes; Beltran, Sandra Lorena

    2014-12-01

    The analysis of work-related accidents is important for accident surveillance and prevention. Current methods of analysis seek to overcome reductionist views that see these occurrences as simple events explained by operator error. The objective of this paper is to analyze the Model of Analysis and Prevention of Accidents (MAPA) and its use in monitoring interventions, duly highlighting aspects experienced in the use of the tool. The descriptive analytical method was used, introducing the steps of the model. To illustrate contributions and or difficulties, cases where the tool was used in the context of service were selected. MAPA integrates theoretical approaches that have already been tried in studies of accidents by providing useful conceptual support from the data collection stage until conclusion and intervention stages. Besides revealing weaknesses of the traditional approach, it helps identify organizational determinants, such as management failings, system design and safety management involved in the accident. The main challenges lie in the grasp of concepts by users, in exploring organizational aspects upstream in the chain of decisions or at higher levels of the hierarchy, as well as the intervention to change the determinants of these events.

  3. Analysis of occupational accidents with biological material among professionals in pre-hospital services.

    PubMed

    de Oliveira, Adriana Cristina; Paiva, Maria Henriqueta Rocha Siqueira

    2013-02-01

    To estimate the prevalence of accidents due to biological material exposure, the characteristics and post-accident conduct among professionals of pre-hospital services of the four municipalities of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A cross-sectional study, using a structured questionnaire that was developed to enable the calculation of prevalence, descriptive analysis and analytical analysis using logistic regression. The study included 228 professionals; the prevalence of accidents due to biological material exposure was 29.4%, with 49.2% percutaneous, 10.4% mucousal, 6.0% non-intact skin, and 34.4% intact skin. Among the professionals injured, those that stood out were nursing technicians (41.9%) and drivers (28.3%). Notification of the occurrence of the accident occurred in 29.8% of the cases. Percutaneous exposure was associated with time of work in the organization (OR=2.51, 95% CI: 1.18 to 5.35, p<0.017). Notification about accidents with biological material should be encouraged, along with professional evaluation/monitoring.

  4. The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as accident predictor; A methodological re-meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Af Wåhlberg, A E; Barraclough, P; Freeman, J

    2015-12-01

    The Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) is the most commonly used self-report tool in traffic safety research and applied settings. It has been claimed that the violation factor of this instrument predicts accident involvement, which was supported by a previous meta-analysis. However, that analysis did not test for methodological effects, or include unpublished results. The present study re-analysed studies on prediction of accident involvement from DBQ factors, including lapses, and many unpublished effects. Tests of various types of dissemination bias and common method variance were undertaken. Outlier analysis showed that some effects were probably not reliable data, but excluding them did not change the results. For correlations between violations and crashes, tendencies for published effects to be larger than unpublished ones and for effects to decrease over time were observed, but were not significant. Also, using the mean of accidents as proxy for effect indicated that studies where effects for violations are not reported have smaller effect sizes. These differences indicate dissemination bias. Studies using self-reported accidents as dependent variables had much larger effects than those using recorded accident data. Also, zero-order correlations were larger than partial correlations controlled for exposure. Similarly, violations/accidents effects were strong only when there was also a strong correlation between accidents and exposure. Overall, the true effect is probably very close to zero (r<.07) for violations versus traffic accident involvement, depending upon which tendencies are controlled for. Methodological factors and dissemination bias have inflated the published effect sizes of the DBQ. Strong evidence of various artefactual effects is apparent. A greater level of care should be taken if the DBQ continues to be used in traffic safety research. Also, validation of self-reports should be more comprehensive in the future, taking into

  5. Circumstances of Trauma and Accidents in Children: A Thesaurus-based Survey

    PubMed

    Séjourné, Claire; Philbois, Olivier; Vercherin, Paul; Patural, Hugues

    2016-11-25

    Introduction : Injuries and accidents are major causes of morbidity and mortality in children in France. Identification and description of the mechanisms of accidents are essential to develop adapted prevention methods. For this purpose, a specific thesaurus of ICD-10 codes relating to the circumstances of trauma and accidents in children was created in the French Loire department. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relevance and acceptability of the thesaurus in the pediatric emergency unit of Saint-Etienne university hospital.Material and Methods : This study was conducted in two phases. The first, longitudinal phase was conducted over three periods between May and October 2014 to compare codings by emergency room physicians before using the thesaurus with those defined on the basis of the thesaurus. The second phase retrospectively compared coding in July and August 2014 before introduction of the thesaurus with thesaurus-based coding in July and August 2015.Results : The first phase showed a loss of more than half of the information without the thesaurus. The circumstances of trauma can be described by an appropriate code in more than 90% of cases. The second phase showed a 13% increase in coding of the circumstances of trauma, which nevertheless remains insufficient.Discussion : The thesaurus facilitates coding and generally meets the coding physician’s expectations and should be used in large-scale epidemiological surveys.

  6. Comprehensive Analysis of Two Downburst-Related Aircraft Accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shen, J.; Parks, E. K.; Bach, R. E.

    1996-01-01

    Although downbursts have been identified as the major cause of a number of aircraft takeoff and landing accidents, only the 1985 Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and the more recent (July 1994) Charlotte, North Carolina, landing accidents provided sufficient onboard recorded data to perform a comprehensive analysis of the downburst phenomenon. The first step in the present analysis was the determination of the downburst wind components. Once the wind components and their gradients were determined, the degrading effect of the wind environment on the airplane's performance was calculated. This wind-shear-induced aircraft performance degradation, sometimes called the F-factor, was broken down into two components F(sub 1) and F(sub 2), representing the effect of the horizontal wind gradient and the vertical wind velocity, respectively. In both the DFW and Charlotte cases, F(sub 1) was found to be the dominant causal factor of the accident. Next, the aircraft in the two cases were mathematically modeled using the longitudinal equations of motion and the appropriate aerodynamic parameters. Based on the aircraft model and the determined winds, the aircraft response to the recorded pilot inputs showed good agreement with the onboard recordings. Finally, various landing abort strategies were studied. It was concluded that the most acceptable landing abort strategy from both an analytical and pilot's standpoint was to hold constant nose-up pitch attitude while operating at maximum engine thrust.

  7. Analysis of accidents and injuries on motorcycles in Mexico.

    PubMed

    Berrones-Sanz, Luis David

    2017-01-01

    To analyze the type of injuries and the characteristics and geographical distribution of road accidents where motorcycles were involved in Mexico. A descriptive analysis of second-hand information sources was conducted, including the number of accidents (N = 41,881), total number of injured people (N = 13,916) and medical expenses (N = 9,111) associated to motorcycle accidents during 2014. Motorcycles represent 13.14% of the total number of deaths in road accidents in Mexico, and the Southeast region of Mexico registers the highest proportion of fatal injuries. Of the total number of motorcycles, 1.84% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.83-1.86) were involved in a collision. 3.64 (95% CI: 3.39-3.89) people died and 105.5 (95% CI: 104.1-106.8) were injured in every 10,000. Out of the total number of injuries, 76.6% were male and 53.74% were women. 55.1% of deaths were caused by intracranial trauma. Only 16.6% wore a helmet at the time of the accident, and those not wearing a helmet had a 2.11 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.1; CI 95%: 1.8-2.4) higher chance of head injury. Regarding the severity of the crash, those occurred in suburban areas (OR: 6.58; CI 95%: 5.69-7.60), in unpaved surfaces (OR: 4.13; CI 95%: 3.04-5.61), after low alcohol consumption (OR: 1.89; CI 95%: 1.46-2.44), at night (OR: 2.24; CI 95%: 1.95-2.57) and on weekends (OR: 1.65; CI 95%: 1.44-1.90), had the highest chance of turning into a fatal accident. In spite of the progress made in terms of road safety, motorcycle accidents are still increasing, and the use of a helmet is still proportionally low. More information on these groups and risk factors needs to be available so people are better informed. Also, regulations need improvements regarding the use of security equipment like helmets in order to reduce injuries and fatal accidents.

  8. A spatial analysis of urban transit accidents assisted by Emergency Mobile Care Services: an analysis of space and time.

    PubMed

    Mendonça, Marcela Franklin Salvador de; Silva, Amanda Priscila de Santana Cabral; Castro, Claudia Cristina Lima de

    2017-01-01

    Urban transit accident are a global public health problem. The objective of this study was to describe the profile of the victims and the occurrences of urban transit accidents attended to by emergency mobile care services (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência- SAMU) in Recife, and their distribution based on spatial analysis. An ecological study, developed through secondary data from emergency mobile care services in Recife, referring to the total number of occurrences of urban transit accidents attended to from January 1 to June 30, 2015. The spatial analysis was performed using the Moran index. Basic support units performed most of the emergency services (89.2%). Among the victims, there was a predominance of males (76.8%) and an age group of 20 - 29 years old (31.5%). Collisions were responsible for 59.9% of the transit accidents, and motorcycles for 61.6% of the accidents among all means of transportation. Friday was the day that showed the highest risk for treatment, and there was a concentration of events between 6:00 am - 8:59am and 6:00pm - 8:59pm. The MoranMap identified critical areas where calls came from traffic accidents during the period analyzed. The records of the mobile service from the spatial analysis are an important source of information for health surveillance. The spatial analysis of urban transit accidents identified regions with a positive spatial correlation, providing subsidies to the logistical planning of emergency mobile care services. This study is groundbreaking in that it offers such information about the region.

  9. Wet weather highway accident analysis and skid resistance data management system (volume II : user's manual).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1992-06-01

    The objectives and scope of this research are to establish an effective methodology for wet weather accident analysis and to develop a database management system to facilitate information processing and storage for the accident analysis process, skid...

  10. How perceptions of experience-based analysis influence explanations of work accidents.

    PubMed

    Mbaye, Safiétou; Kouabenan, Dongo Rémi

    2013-12-01

    This article looks into how perceptions of experience-based analysis (EBA) influence causal explanations of accidents given by managers and workers in the chemical industry (n=409) and in the nuclear industry (n=222). The approach is based on the model of naive explanations of accidents (Kouabenan, 1999, 2006, 2009), which recommends taking into account explanations of accidents spontaneously given by individuals, including laypersons, not only to better understand why accidents occur but also to design and implement the most appropriate prevention measures. The study reported here describes the impact of perceptions about EBA (perceived effectiveness, personal commitment, and the feeling of being involved in EBA practices) on managers' and workers' explanations of accidents likely to occur at the workplace. The results indicated that both managers and workers made more internal explanations than external ones when they perceived EBA positively. Moreover, the more the participants felt involved in EBA, were committed to it, and judged it effective, the more they explained accidents in terms of factors internal to the workers. Recommendations are proposed for reducing defensive reactions, increasing personal commitment to EBA, and improving EBA effectiveness. © 2013.

  11. Human error and commercial aviation accidents: an analysis using the human factors analysis and classification system.

    PubMed

    Shappell, Scott; Detwiler, Cristy; Holcomb, Kali; Hackworth, Carla; Boquet, Albert; Wiegmann, Douglas A

    2007-04-01

    The aim of this study was to extend previous examinations of aviation accidents to include specific aircrew, environmental, supervisory, and organizational factors associated with two types of commercial aviation (air carrier and commuter/ on-demand) accidents using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). HFACS is a theoretically based tool for investigating and analyzing human error associated with accidents and incidents. Previous research has shown that HFACS can be reliably used to identify human factors trends associated with military and general aviation accidents. Using data obtained from both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, 6 pilot-raters classified aircrew, supervisory, organizational, and environmental causal factors associated with 1020 commercial aviation accidents that occurred over a 13-year period. The majority of accident causal factors were attributed to aircrew and the environment, with decidedly fewer associated with supervisory and organizational causes. Comparisons were made between HFACS causal categories and traditional situational variables such as visual conditions, injury severity, and regional differences. These data will provide support for the continuation, modification, and/or development of interventions aimed at commercial aviation safety. HFACS provides a tool for assessing human factors associated with accidents and incidents.

  12. Analysis of multiple tank car releases in train accidents.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiang; Liu, Chang; Hong, Yili

    2017-10-01

    There are annually over two million carloads of hazardous materials transported by rail in the United States. The American railroads use large blocks of tank cars to transport petroleum crude oil and other flammable liquids from production to consumption sites. Being different from roadway transport of hazardous materials, a train accident can potentially result in the derailment and release of multiple tank cars, which may result in significant consequences. The prior literature predominantly assumes that the occurrence of multiple tank car releases in a train accident is a series of independent Bernoulli processes, and thus uses the binomial distribution to estimate the total number of tank car releases given the number of tank cars derailing or damaged. This paper shows that the traditional binomial model can incorrectly estimate multiple tank car release probability by magnitudes in certain circumstances, thereby significantly affecting railroad safety and risk analysis. To bridge this knowledge gap, this paper proposes a novel, alternative Correlated Binomial (CB) model that accounts for the possible correlations of multiple tank car releases in the same train. We test three distinct correlation structures in the CB model, and find that they all outperform the conventional binomial model based on empirical tank car accident data. The analysis shows that considering tank car release correlations would result in a significantly improved fit of the empirical data than otherwise. Consequently, it is prudent to consider alternative modeling techniques when analyzing the probability of multiple tank car releases in railroad accidents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. SBLOCA outside containment at Browns Ferry Unit One: accident sequence analysis. [Small break

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Condon, W.A.; Harrington, R.M.; Greene, S.R.

    1982-11-01

    This study describes the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to a postulated small-break loss-of-coolant accident outside of the primary containment. The break has been assumed to occur in the scram discharge volume piping immediately following a reactor scram that cannot be reset. The events before core uncovering are discussed for both the worst-case accident sequence without operator action and for the more likely sequences with operator action. Without operator action, the events after core uncovering would include core meltdown and subsequent containment failure, and this event sequence has been determined through use of themore » MARCH code. An estimate of the magnitude and timing of the concomitant release of the noble gas, cesium, and iodine-based fission products to the environment is provided in Volume 2 of this report.« less

  14. Accidents at work and costs analysis: a field study in a large Italian company.

    PubMed

    Battaglia, Massimo; Frey, Marco; Passetti, Emilio

    2014-01-01

    Accidents at work are still a heavy burden in social and economic terms, and action to improve health and safety standards at work offers great potential gains not only to employers, but also to individuals and society as a whole. However, companies often are not interested to measure the costs of accidents even if cost information may facilitate preventive occupational health and safety management initiatives. The field study, carried out in a large Italian company, illustrates technical and organisational aspects associated with the implementation of an accident costs analysis tool. The results indicate that the implementation (and the use) of the tool requires a considerable commitment by the company, that accident costs analysis should serve to reinforce the importance of health and safety prevention and that the economic dimension of accidents is substantial. The study also suggests practical ways to facilitate the implementation and the moral acceptance of the accounting technology.

  15. Worker safety and injury severity analysis of earthmoving equipment accidents.

    PubMed

    Kazan, Emrah; Usmen, Mumtaz A

    2018-06-01

    Research on construction worker safety associated with construction equipment has mostly focused on accident type rather than injury severity and the embedded factor relationships. Significant variables and their effects on the degree of injury are examined for earthmoving equipment using data from OSHA. Four types of equipment, backhoe, bulldozer, excavator, and scraper are included in the study. Accidents involving on-foot workers and equipment operators are investigated collectively, as well as separately. Cross tabulation analysis was conducted to establish the associations between selected categorical variables, using degree of injury as a dichotomous dependent variable (fatal vs. nonfatal) and a number of independent variables having different values. Odds ratios were calculated to determine how much a certain variable/factor increases the odds of fatality in an accident, and the odds ratios were ranked to determine the relative impact of a given factor. It was found that twelve variables were significantly associated with injury severity. Rankings based on odds ratios showed that inadequate safety training (2.54), missing equipment protective system (2.38), being a non-union worker (2.26), being an equipment operator (1.93), and being on or around inadequately maintained equipment (1.58) produced higher odds for fatality. A majority of the earthmoving equipment accidents resulted in fatality. Backhoes were the most common equipment involved in accidents and fatalities. Struck-by accidents were the most prevalent and most fatal. Non-OSHA compliant safety training, missing seatbelt, operator not using seatbelt, malfunctioning back-up alarms, and poorly maintained equipment were factors contributing to accidents and fatalities. On-foot workers experienced a higher number of accidents than operators, while fatality odds were higher for the operators. Practical applications: Safety professionals should benefit from our findings in planning and delivering training

  16. NASA Accident Precursor Analysis Handbook, Version 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Groen, Frank; Everett, Chris; Hall, Anthony; Insley, Scott

    2011-01-01

    Catastrophic accidents are usually preceded by precursory events that, although observable, are not recognized as harbingers of a tragedy until after the fact. In the nuclear industry, the Three Mile Island accident was preceded by at least two events portending the potential for severe consequences from an underappreciated causal mechanism. Anomalies whose failure mechanisms were integral to the losses of Space Transportation Systems (STS) Challenger and Columbia had been occurring within the STS fleet prior to those accidents. Both the Rogers Commission Report and the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report found that processes in place at the time did not respond to the prior anomalies in a way that shed light on their true risk implications. This includes the concern that, in the words of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), "no process addresses the need to update a hazard analysis when anomalies occur" At a broader level, the ASAP noted in 2007 that NASA "could better gauge the likelihood of losses by developing leading indicators, rather than continue to depend on lagging indicators". These observations suggest a need to revalidate prior assumptions and conclusions of existing safety (and reliability) analyses, as well as to consider the potential for previously unrecognized accident scenarios, when unexpected or otherwise undesired behaviors of the system are observed. This need is also discussed in NASA's system safety handbook, which advocates a view of safety assurance as driving a program to take steps that are necessary to establish and maintain a valid and credible argument for the safety of its missions. It is the premise of this handbook that making cases for safety more experience-based allows NASA to be better informed about the safety performance of its systems, and will ultimately help it to manage safety in a more effective manner. The APA process described in this handbook provides a systematic means of analyzing candidate

  17. Work-related accidents among the Iranian population: a time series analysis, 2000–2011

    PubMed Central

    Karimlou, Masoud; Imani, Mehdi; Hosseini, Agha-Fatemeh; Dehnad, Afsaneh; Vahabi, Nasim; Bakhtiyari, Mahmood

    2015-01-01

    Background Work-related accidents result in human suffering and economic losses and are considered as a major health problem worldwide, especially in the economically developing world. Objectives To introduce seasonal autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) models for time series analysis of work-related accident data for workers insured by the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) between 2000 and 2011. Methods In this retrospective study, all insured people experiencing at least one work-related accident during a 10-year period were included in the analyses. We used Box–Jenkins modeling to develop a time series model of the total number of accidents. Results There was an average of 1476 accidents per month (1476·05±458·77, mean±SD). The final ARIMA (p,d,q) (P,D,Q)s model for fitting to data was: ARIMA(1,1,1)×(0,1,1)12 consisting of the first ordering of the autoregressive, moving average and seasonal moving average parameters with 20·942 mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Conclusions The final model showed that time series analysis of ARIMA models was useful for forecasting the number of work-related accidents in Iran. In addition, the forecasted number of work-related accidents for 2011 explained the stability of occurrence of these accidents in recent years, indicating a need for preventive occupational health and safety policies such as safety inspection. PMID:26119774

  18. Offsite radiological consequence analysis for the bounding flammable gas accident

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    CARRO, C.A.

    2003-03-19

    The purpose of this analysis is to calculate the offsite radiological consequence of the bounding flammable gas accident. DOE-STD-3009-94, ''Preparation Guide for U.S. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Documented Safety Analyses'', requires the formal quantification of a limited subset of accidents representing a complete set of bounding conditions. The results of these analyses are then evaluated to determine if they challenge the DOE-STD-3009-94, Appendix A, ''Evaluation Guideline,'' of 25 rem total effective dose equivalent in order to identify and evaluate safety class structures, systems, and components. The bounding flammable gas accident is a detonation in a single-shell tank (SST).more » A detonation versus a deflagration was selected for analysis because the faster flame speed of a detonation can potentially result in a larger release of respirable material. As will be shown, the consequences of a detonation in either an SST or a double-shell tank (DST) are approximately equal. A detonation in an SST was selected as the bounding condition because the estimated respirable release masses are the same and because the doses per unit quantity of waste inhaled are generally greater for SSTs than for DSTs. Appendix A contains a DST analysis for comparison purposes.« less

  19. [Proposal of a method for collective analysis of work-related accidents in the hospital setting].

    PubMed

    Osório, Claudia; Machado, Jorge Mesquita Huet; Minayo-Gomez, Carlos

    2005-01-01

    The article presents a method for the analysis of work-related accidents in hospitals, with the double aim of analyzing accidents in light of actual work activity and enhancing the vitality of the various professions that comprise hospital work. This process involves both research and intervention, combining knowledge output with training of health professionals, fostering expanded participation by workers in managing their daily work. The method consists of stimulating workers to recreate the situation in which a given accident occurred, shifting themselves to the position of observers of their own work. In the first stage of analysis, workers are asked to show the work analyst how the accident occurred; in the second stage, the work accident victim and analyst jointly record the described series of events in a diagram; in the third, the resulting record is re-discussed and further elaborated; in the fourth, the work accident victim and analyst evaluate and implement measures aimed to prevent the accident from recurring. The article concludes by discussing the method's possibilities and limitations in the hospital setting.

  20. Traits and causes of environmental loss-related chemical accidents in China based on co-word analysis.

    PubMed

    Wu, Desheng; Song, Yu; Xie, Kefan; Zhang, Baofeng

    2018-04-25

    Chemical accidents are major causes of environmental losses and have been debated due to the potential threat to human beings and environment. Compared with the single statistical analysis, co-word analysis of chemical accidents illustrates significant traits at various levels and presents data into a visual network. This study utilizes a co-word analysis of the keywords extracted from the Web crawling texts of environmental loss-related chemical accidents and uses the Pearson's correlation coefficient to examine the internal attributes. To visualize the keywords of the accidents, this study carries out a multidimensional scaling analysis applying PROXSCAL and centrality identification. The research results show that an enormous environmental cost is exacted, especially given the expected environmental loss-related chemical accidents with geographical features. Meanwhile, each event often brings more than one environmental impact. Large number of chemical substances are released in the form of solid, liquid, and gas, leading to serious results. Eight clusters that represent the traits of these accidents are formed, including "leakage," "poisoning," "explosion," "pipeline crack," "river pollution," "dust pollution," "emission," and "industrial effluent." "Explosion" and "gas" possess a strong correlation with "poisoning," located at the center of visualization map.

  1. Accidents at Work and Costs Analysis: A Field Study in a Large Italian Company

    PubMed Central

    BATTAGLIA, Massimo; FREY, Marco; PASSETTI, Emilio

    2014-01-01

    Accidents at work are still a heavy burden in social and economic terms, and action to improve health and safety standards at work offers great potential gains not only to employers, but also to individuals and society as a whole. However, companies often are not interested to measure the costs of accidents even if cost information may facilitate preventive occupational health and safety management initiatives. The field study, carried out in a large Italian company, illustrates technical and organisational aspects associated with the implementation of an accident costs analysis tool. The results indicate that the implementation (and the use) of the tool requires a considerable commitment by the company, that accident costs analysis should serve to reinforce the importance of health and safety prevention and that the economic dimension of accidents is substantial. The study also suggests practical ways to facilitate the implementation and the moral acceptance of the accounting technology. PMID:24869894

  2. MELCOR computer code manuals

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Summers, R.M.; Cole, R.K. Jr.; Smith, R.C.

    1995-03-01

    MELCOR is a fully integrated, engineering-level computer code that models the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor nuclear power plants. MELCOR is being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a second-generation plant risk assessment tool and the successor to the Source Term Code Package. A broad spectrum of severe accident phenomena in both boiling and pressurized water reactors is treated in MELCOR in a unified framework. These include: thermal-hydraulic response in the reactor coolant system, reactor cavity, containment, and confinement buildings; core heatup, degradation, and relocation; core-concrete attack; hydrogen production, transport, andmore » combustion; fission product release and transport; and the impact of engineered safety features on thermal-hydraulic and radionuclide behavior. Current uses of MELCOR include estimation of severe accident source terms and their sensitivities and uncertainties in a variety of applications. This publication of the MELCOR computer code manuals corresponds to MELCOR 1.8.3, released to users in August, 1994. Volume 1 contains a primer that describes MELCOR`s phenomenological scope, organization (by package), and documentation. The remainder of Volume 1 contains the MELCOR Users Guides, which provide the input instructions and guidelines for each package. Volume 2 contains the MELCOR Reference Manuals, which describe the phenomenological models that have been implemented in each package.« less

  3. Review of hydrogen accidents and incidents in NASA operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ordin, P. M.

    1974-01-01

    A number of the accidents/incidents with hydrogen in NASA operations are reviewed. The cause factors for the mishaps are reviewed and show that although few accidents occurred, the number could have been further reduced if the established NASA rules and regulations had been followed. Requirements for effective safety codes and areas of study for hydrogen safety information are included. The report concludes with a compilation of 96 hydrogen mishaps; a description of the accidents and their causes.

  4. Accident analysis of heavy water cooled thorium breeder reactor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yulianti, Yanti; Su'ud, Zaki; Takaki, Naoyuki

    2015-04-01

    power reactor has a peak value before reactor has new balance condition. The analysis showed that temperatures of fuel and claddings during accident are still below limitations which are in secure condition.

  5. 3D neutronic codes coupled with thermal-hydraulic system codes for PWR, and BWR and VVER reactors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Langenbuch, S.; Velkov, K.; Lizorkin, M.

    1997-07-01

    This paper describes the objectives of code development for coupling 3D neutronics codes with thermal-hydraulic system codes. The present status of coupling ATHLET with three 3D neutronics codes for VVER- and LWR-reactors is presented. After describing the basic features of the 3D neutronic codes BIPR-8 from Kurchatov-Institute, DYN3D from Research Center Rossendorf and QUABOX/CUBBOX from GRS, first applications of coupled codes for different transient and accident scenarios are presented. The need of further investigations is discussed.

  6. X-Antenna: A graphical interface for antenna analysis codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldstein, B. L.; Newman, E. H.; Shamansky, H. T.

    1995-01-01

    This report serves as the user's manual for the X-Antenna code. X-Antenna is intended to simplify the analysis of antennas by giving the user graphical interfaces in which to enter all relevant antenna and analysis code data. Essentially, X-Antenna creates a Motif interface to the user's antenna analysis codes. A command-file allows new antennas and codes to be added to the application. The menu system and graphical interface screens are created dynamically to conform to the data in the command-file. Antenna data can be saved and retrieved from disk. X-Antenna checks all antenna and code values to ensure they are of the correct type, writes an output file, and runs the appropriate antenna analysis code. Volumetric pattern data may be viewed in 3D space with an external viewer run directly from the application. Currently, X-Antenna includes analysis codes for thin wire antennas (dipoles, loops, and helices), rectangular microstrip antennas, and thin slot antennas.

  7. Analysis of Accidents at the Pakistan Research Reactor-1 Using Proposed Mixed-Fuel (HEU and LEU) Core

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bokhari, Ishtiaq H.

    2004-12-15

    The Pakistan Research Reactor-1 (PARR-1) was converted from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel in 1991. The reactor is running successfully, with an upgraded power level of 10 MW. To save money on the purchase of costly fresh LEU fuel elements, the use of less burnt HEU spent fuel elements along with the present LEU fuel elements is being considered. The proposal calls for the HEU fuel elements to be placed near the thermal column to gain the required excess reactivity. In the present study the safety analysis of a proposed mixed-fuel core has been carried outmore » at a calculated steady-state power level of 9.8 MW. Standard computer codes and correlations were employed to compute various parameters. Initiating events in reactivity-induced accidents involve various modes of reactivity insertion, namely, start-up accident, accidental drop of a fuel element on the core, flooding of a beam tube with water, and removal of an in-pile experiment during reactor operation. For each of these transients, time histories of reactor power, energy released, temperature, and reactivity were determined.« less

  8. Observations Regarding Use of Advanced CFD Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, and Design Codes in MDO

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Newman, Perry A.; Hou, Gene J. W.; Taylor, Arthur C., III

    1996-01-01

    Observations regarding the use of advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, sensitivity analysis (SA), and design codes in gradient-based multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) reflect our perception of the interactions required of CFD and our experience in recent aerodynamic design optimization studies using CFD. Sample results from these latter studies are summarized for conventional optimization (analysis - SA codes) and simultaneous analysis and design optimization (design code) using both Euler and Navier-Stokes flow approximations. The amount of computational resources required for aerodynamic design using CFD via analysis - SA codes is greater than that required for design codes. Thus, an MDO formulation that utilizes the more efficient design codes where possible is desired. However, in the aerovehicle MDO problem, the various disciplines that are involved have different design points in the flight envelope; therefore, CFD analysis - SA codes are required at the aerodynamic 'off design' points. The suggested MDO formulation is a hybrid multilevel optimization procedure that consists of both multipoint CFD analysis - SA codes and multipoint CFD design codes that perform suboptimizations.

  9. Superimposed Code Theoretic Analysis of DNA Codes and DNA Computing

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-01-01

    complements of one another and the DNA duplex formed is a Watson - Crick (WC) duplex. However, there are many instances when the formation of non-WC...that the user’s requirements for probe selection are met based on the Watson - Crick probe locality within a target. The second type, called...AFRL-RI-RS-TR-2007-288 Final Technical Report January 2008 SUPERIMPOSED CODE THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF DNA CODES AND DNA COMPUTING

  10. [Human risk factors and injuries due to road accidents: analysis of current data].

    PubMed

    Marchetti, Pierpaolo; Morandi, Anna; Lombardo, Carlo; Gigli Berzolari, Francesca; Bruno, Vincenzo; Marinoni, Alessandra

    2009-01-01

    several studies have shown that most road accidents are due to human factors, and that these are strongly linked to a drive's age and sex. The aim of this study is to test the role that some human factors play in road accidents by analysing current road accident data in the Province of Pavia, in Northern Italy. road accidents that occurred in 2004 were analysed by integrating the paper database of the vehicle licensing office, properly computerised, with the 911 database of the Province of Pavia. This study has been carried out by analysing 1.347 road accidents and the associated 2.908 drivers of motorised vehicles. Northern Italy, the Province of Pavia. the death rate of drivers of 2-wheeled vehicles is almost nine times higher than that of 4-wheeled vehicles. Analysis shows that females are twice as exposed to road accidents than males; it also shows the benefits of extensive road education training and of being aged 30-64 and older. Drivers who have already been punished and have had their driving license scores reduced are likely to respond rapidly when in a dangerous situation and also to be without blame after an accident. Motorcycle riders are 25 times more likely to suffer serious injury than drivers of cars. Additionally, the risk of a woman being seriously injured is higher than for a man. females, young drivers and motorcycle riders who have not previously been penalised for a previous traffic violation have a higher risk of being seriously injured; females and motorcycle riders are also at greater risk of being seriously injured. We hope that this analysis will be used to improve preventative interventions for road accidents.r.

  11. Development of Northeast Asia Nuclear Power Plant Accident Simulator.

    PubMed

    Kim, Juyub; Kim, Juyoul; Po, Li-Chi Cliff

    2017-06-15

    A conclusion from the lessons learned after the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident was that Korea needs a tool to estimate consequences from a major accident that could occur at a nuclear power plant located in a neighboring country. This paper describes a suite of computer-based codes to be used by Korea's nuclear emergency response staff for training and potentially operational support in Korea's national emergency preparedness and response program. The systems of codes, Northeast Asia Nuclear Accident Simulator (NANAS), consist of three modules: source-term estimation, atmospheric dispersion prediction and dose assessment. To quickly assess potential doses to the public in Korea, NANAS includes specific reactor data from the nuclear power plants in China, Japan and Taiwan. The completed simulator is demonstrated using data for a hypothetical release. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Human factors analysis and classification system applied to civil aircraft accidents in India.

    PubMed

    Gaur, Deepak

    2005-05-01

    The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) has gained wide acceptance as a tool to classify human factors in aircraft accidents and incidents. This study on application of HFACS to civil aircraft accident reports at Directorate General Civil of Aviation (DGCA), India, was conducted to ascertain the practicability of applying HFACS to existing investigation reports and to analyze the trends of human factor causes of civil aircraft accidents. Accident investigation reports held at DGCA, New Delhi, for the period 1990--99 were scrutinized. In all, 83 accidents occurred during this period, of which 48 accident reports were evaluated in this study. One or more human factors contributed to 37 of the 48 (77.1%) accidents. The commonest unsafe act was 'skill based errors' followed by 'decision errors.' Violations of laid down rules were contributory in 16 cases (33.3%). 'Preconditions for unsafe acts' were seen in 23 of the 48 cases (47.9%). A fairly large number (52.1%) had 'organizational influences' contributing to the accident. These results are in consonance with larger studies of accidents in the U.S. Navy and general aviation. Such a high percentage of 'organizational influences' has not been reported in other studies. This is a healthy sign for Indian civil aviation, provided effective remedial action for the same is undertaken.

  13. Learning lessons from Natech accidents - the eNATECH accident database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krausmann, Elisabeth; Girgin, Serkan

    2016-04-01

    When natural hazards impact industrial facilities that house or process hazardous materials, fires, explosions and toxic releases can occur. This type of accident is commonly referred to as Natech accident. In order to prevent the recurrence of accidents or to better mitigate their consequences, lessons-learned type studies using available accident data are usually carried out. Through post-accident analysis, conclusions can be drawn on the most common damage and failure modes and hazmat release paths, particularly vulnerable storage and process equipment, and the hazardous materials most commonly involved in these types of accidents. These analyses also lend themselves to identifying technical and organisational risk-reduction measures that require improvement or are missing. Industrial accident databases are commonly used for retrieving sets of Natech accident case histories for further analysis. These databases contain accident data from the open literature, government authorities or in-company sources. The quality of reported information is not uniform and exhibits different levels of detail and accuracy. This is due to the difficulty of finding qualified information sources, especially in situations where accident reporting by the industry or by authorities is not compulsory, e.g. when spill quantities are below the reporting threshold. Data collection has then to rely on voluntary record keeping often by non-experts. The level of detail is particularly non-uniform for Natech accident data depending on whether the consequences of the Natech event were major or minor, and whether comprehensive information was available for reporting. In addition to the reporting bias towards high-consequence events, industrial accident databases frequently lack information on the severity of the triggering natural hazard, as well as on failure modes that led to the hazmat release. This makes it difficult to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident and renders the development of

  14. Accident analysis of heavy water cooled thorium breeder reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yulianti, Yanti; Su’ud, Zaki; Takaki, Naoyuki

    2015-04-16

    . The power reactor has a peak value before reactor has new balance condition. The analysis showed that temperatures of fuel and claddings during accident are still below limitations which are in secure condition.« less

  15. [Analysis of work accidents during the years 1999-2006 in a hospital company in Lombardia].

    PubMed

    Melloni, P; Antoniazzi, E; Somenzi, V; Galli, L; Fazioli, R; Mottinelli, A; Franzosi, C; Cirla, A M; Gobba, E

    2007-01-01

    This study describe accidents occurred in the period between 1999 and 2006 in the Hospital of Cremona, in which about 2400 subjects operate. The analysis of Accident Register showed a reduction of about 30% of the total number of accidents during the examined period and a non homogeneous distribution of the various types of accidents. The most frequent accidents were prick (25.8%), trauma (22.9%) and "in itinere" accidents (7.8%). One type of accident has been little considered up to now: the aggressions. Professional nurses were the most frequently involved and the most affected units were those that belong to the Internal Medicine Department. "In itinere" accidents had the longest average prognosis (11.6 days). The repetition of accidents occurred to the same operator hasn't been analysed before now: a professional nurse had nine accidents (of various type) in the seven years considered. Probably the reduction of accident must be attributed to the effectiveness of the prevention activities undertaken during the reviewed period. Biological accidents, for which it was possible to implement prevention programs, have been markedly reduced; it was not the same for "In Itinere" accidents, that depend significantly on external factors that are not easily dismissed.

  16. Risk of Occupational Accidents in Workers with Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

    PubMed Central

    Garbarino, Sergio; Guglielmi, Ottavia; Sanna, Antonio; Mancardi, Gian Luigi; Magnavita, Nicola

    2016-01-01

    Study Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the single most important preventable medical cause of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and driving accidents. OSA may also adversely affect work performance through a decrease in productivity, and an increase in the injury rate. Nevertheless, no systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between OSA and work accidents has been performed thus far. Methods: PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched. Out of an initial list of 1,099 papers, 10 studies (12,553 participants) were eligible for our review, and 7 of them were included in the meta-analysis. The overall effects were measured by odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). An assessment was made of the methodological quality of the studies. Moderator analysis and funnel plot analysis were used to explore the sources of between-study heterogeneity. Results: Compared to controls, the odds of work accident was found to be nearly double in workers with OSA (OR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.53–3.10). Occupational driving was associated with a higher effect size. Conclusions: OSA is an underdiagnosed nonoccupational disease that has a strong adverse effect on work accidents. The nearly twofold increased odds of work accidents in subjects with OSA calls for workplace screening in selected safety-sensitive occupations. Commentary: A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 1171. Citation: Garbarino S, Guglielmi O, Sanna A, Mancardi GL, Magnavita N. Risk of occupational accidents in workers with obstructive sleep apnea: systematic review and meta-analysis. SLEEP 2016;39(6):1211–1218. PMID:26951401

  17. Analysis of Crew Fatigue in AIA Guantanamo Bay Aviation Accident

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rosekind, Mark R.; Gregory, Kevin B.; Miller, Donna L.; Co, Elizabeth L.; Lebacqz, J. Victor; Statler, Irving C. (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Flight operations can engender fatigue, which can affect flight crew performance, vigilance, and mood. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) requested the NASA Fatigue Countermeasures Program to analyze crew fatigue factors in an aviation accident that occurred at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are specific fatigue factors that can be considered in such investigations: cumulative sleep loss, continuous hours of wakefulness prior to the incident or accident, and the time of day at which the accident occurred. Data from the NTSB Human Performance Investigator's Factual Report, the Operations Group Chairman's Factual Report, and the Flight 808 Crew Statements were analyzed, using conservative estimates and averages to reconcile discrepancies among the sources. Analysis of these data determined the following: the entire crew displayed cumulative sleep loss, operated during an extended period of continuous wakefulness, and obtained sleep at times in opposition to the circadian disposition for sleep, and that the accident occurred in the afternoon window of physiological sleepiness. In addition to these findings, evidence that fatigue affected performance was suggested by the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript as well as in the captain's testimony. Examples from the CVR showed degraded decision-making skills, fixation, and slowed responses, all of which can be affected by fatigue; also, the captain testified to feeling "lethargic and indifferent" just prior to the accident. Therefore, the sleep/wake history data supports the hypothesis that fatigue was a factor that affected crewmembers' performance. Furthermore, the examples from the CVR and the captain's testimony support the hypothesis that the fatigue had an impact on specific actions involved in the occurrence of the accident.

  18. Systems thinking, the Swiss Cheese Model and accident analysis: a comparative systemic analysis of the Grayrigg train derailment using the ATSB, AcciMap and STAMP models.

    PubMed

    Underwood, Peter; Waterson, Patrick

    2014-07-01

    The Swiss Cheese Model (SCM) is the most popular accident causation model and is widely used throughout various industries. A debate exists in the research literature over whether the SCM remains a viable tool for accident analysis. Critics of the model suggest that it provides a sequential, oversimplified view of accidents. Conversely, proponents suggest that it embodies the concepts of systems theory, as per the contemporary systemic analysis techniques. The aim of this paper was to consider whether the SCM can provide a systems thinking approach and remain a viable option for accident analysis. To achieve this, the train derailment at Grayrigg was analysed with an SCM-based model (the ATSB accident investigation model) and two systemic accident analysis methods (AcciMap and STAMP). The analysis outputs and usage of the techniques were compared. The findings of the study showed that each model applied the systems thinking approach. However, the ATSB model and AcciMap graphically presented their findings in a more succinct manner, whereas STAMP more clearly embodied the concepts of systems theory. The study suggests that, whilst the selection of an analysis method is subject to trade-offs that practitioners and researchers must make, the SCM remains a viable model for accident analysis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Genetic Code Analysis Toolkit: A novel tool to explore the coding properties of the genetic code and DNA sequences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kraljić, K.; Strüngmann, L.; Fimmel, E.; Gumbel, M.

    2018-01-01

    The genetic code is degenerated and it is assumed that redundancy provides error detection and correction mechanisms in the translation process. However, the biological meaning of the code's structure is still under current research. This paper presents a Genetic Code Analysis Toolkit (GCAT) which provides workflows and algorithms for the analysis of the structure of nucleotide sequences. In particular, sets or sequences of codons can be transformed and tested for circularity, comma-freeness, dichotomic partitions and others. GCAT comes with a fertile editor custom-built to work with the genetic code and a batch mode for multi-sequence processing. With the ability to read FASTA files or load sequences from GenBank, the tool can be used for the mathematical and statistical analysis of existing sequence data. GCAT is Java-based and provides a plug-in concept for extensibility. Availability: Open source Homepage:http://www.gcat.bio/

  20. Preliminary analysis of loss-of-coolant accident in Fukushima nuclear accident

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su'ud, Zaki; Anshari, Rio

    2012-06-01

    Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) especially on Fukushima Nuclear Accident will be discussed in this paper. The Tohoku earthquake triggered the shutdown of nuclear power reactors at Fukushima Nuclear Power station. Though shutdown process has been completely performed, cooling process, at much smaller level than in normal operation, is needed to remove decay heat from the reactor core until the reactor reach cold-shutdown condition. If LOCA happen at this condition, it will cause the increase of reactor fuel and other core temperatures and can lead to reactor core meltdown and exposure of radioactive material to the environment such as in the Fukushima Dai Ichi nuclear accident case. In this study numerical simulation has been performed to calculate pressure composition, water level and temperature distribution on reactor during this accident. There are two coolant regulating system that operational on reactor unit 1 at this accident, Isolation Condensers (IC) system and Safety Relief Valves (SRV) system. Average mass flow of steam to the IC system in this event is 10 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 3,2 hours and fully uncovered in 4,7 hours later. There are two coolant regulating system at operational on reactor unit 2, Reactor Core Isolation Condenser (RCIC) System and Safety Relief Valves (SRV). Average mass flow of coolant that correspond this event is 20 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 73 hours and fully uncovered in 75 hours later. There are three coolant regulating system at operational on reactor unit 3, Reactor Core Isolation Condenser (RCIC) system, High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) system and Safety Relief Valves (SRV). Average mass flow of water that correspond this event is 15 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 37 hours and fully uncovered in 40 hours later.

  1. Construction industry accidents in Spain.

    PubMed

    Camino López, Miguel A; Ritzel, Dale O; Fontaneda, Ignacio; González Alcantara, Oscar J

    2008-01-01

    This paper analyzed industrial accidents that take place on construction sites and their severity. Eighteen variables were studied. We analyzed the influence of each of these with respect to the severity and fatality of the accident. This descriptive analysis was grounded in 1,630,452 accidents, representing the total number of accidents suffered by workers in the construction sector in Spain over the period 1990-2000. It was shown that age, type of contract, time of accident, length of service in the company, company size, day of the week, and the remainder of the variables under analysis influenced the seriousness of the accident. IMPACT ON INJURY PREVENTION: The results obtained show that different training was needed, depending on the severity of accidents, for different age, length of service in the company, organization of work, and time when workers work. The research provides an insight to the likely causes of construction injuries in Spain. As a result of the analysis, industries and governmental agencies in Spain can start to provide appropriate strategies and training to the construction workers.

  2. Analysis of Sertraline in Postmortem Fluids and Tissues in 11 Aviation Accident Victims

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-11-01

    likely undergoes significant postmortem redistribution. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Forensic Toxicology , Sertraline, Norsertraline... Toxicology .. Forensic Sci Int,.142:.75-100.(2004) . 29 .. Skopp,.G ..Postmortem.Toxicology .. Forensic Sci Med Pathol,.6:.314-25.(2010) . ... toxicological . analysis. on. specimens.from.….aircraft.accident.fatalities”.and.“in- vestigate.….general.aviation.and.air.carrier.accidents. and. search

  3. Statistical Analysis And Treatment Of Accident Black Spots: A Case Study Of Nandyal Mandal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sudharshan Reddy, B.; Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, L.; Sreenivasa Reddy, G., Dr

    2017-08-01

    Background: Increased, economic activity raised the consumption levels of the people across the country. This created scope for increase in travel and transportation. The increase in the vehicles since last 10 years has put lot of pressure on the existing roads and ultimately resulting in road accidents. Nandyal Mandal is located in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and well developed in both agricultural and industrial sectors after Kurnool. 567 accidents occurred in the last seven years at 143 locations shows the severity of the accidents in the Nandyal Mandal. There is a need to carry out some work in the Nandyal Mandal to improve the accidents black spots for reducing the accidents. Methods: Last seven years (2010-2016) of accident data collected from Police Stations. Weighted Severity Index (WSI), a scientific method is used for identifying the accident black spots. Statistical analysis has carried out for the collected data using Chi-Square Test to determine the independence of accidents with other attributes. Chi-Square Goodness of fit test conducted for test whether the accidents are occurring by chance or following any pattern. Results: WSI values are determined for the 143 locations. The Locations with high WSI are treated as accident black spots. Five black spots are taken for field study. After field observations and interaction with the public, some improvements are suggested for improving the accident black spots. There is no relationship between the severity of accidents and the other attributes like month, season, day, hours in day and the age group except type of vehicle. Road accidents are distributed throughout the Year, Month and Season. Road accidents are not distributed throughout the day.

  4. Predicting System Accidents with Model Analysis During Hybrid Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Malin, Jane T.; Fleming, Land D.; Throop, David R.

    2002-01-01

    Standard discrete event simulation is commonly used to identify system bottlenecks and starving and blocking conditions in resources and services. The CONFIG hybrid discrete/continuous simulation tool can simulate such conditions in combination with inputs external to the simulation. This provides a means for evaluating the vulnerability to system accidents of a system's design, operating procedures, and control software. System accidents are brought about by complex unexpected interactions among multiple system failures , faulty or misleading sensor data, and inappropriate responses of human operators or software. The flows of resource and product materials play a central role in the hazardous situations that may arise in fluid transport and processing systems. We describe the capabilities of CONFIG for simulation-time linear circuit analysis of fluid flows in the context of model-based hazard analysis. We focus on how CONFIG simulates the static stresses in systems of flow. Unlike other flow-related properties, static stresses (or static potentials) cannot be represented by a set of state equations. The distribution of static stresses is dependent on the specific history of operations performed on a system. We discuss the use of this type of information in hazard analysis of system designs.

  5. Waste management facility accident analysis (WASTE ACC) system: software for analysis of waste management alternatives

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kohout, E.F.; Folga, S.; Mueller, C.

    1996-03-01

    This paper describes the Waste Management Facility Accident Analysis (WASTE{underscore}ACC) software, which was developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to support the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Waste Management (WM) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). WASTE{underscore}ACC is a decision support and database system that is compatible with Microsoft{reg_sign} Windows{trademark}. It assesses potential atmospheric releases from accidents at waste management facilities. The software provides the user with an easy-to-use tool to determine the risk-dominant accident sequences for the many possible combinations of process technologies, waste and facility types, and alternative cases described in the WM PEIS. In addition, its structure willmore » allow additional alternative cases and assumptions to be tested as part of the future DOE programmatic decision-making process. The WASTE{underscore}ACC system demonstrates one approach to performing a generic, systemwide evaluation of accident risks at waste management facilities. The advantages of WASTE{underscore}ACC are threefold. First, the software gets waste volume and radiological profile data that were used to perform other WM PEIS-related analyses directly from the WASTE{underscore}MGMT system. Second, the system allows for a consistent analysis across all sites and waste streams, which enables decision makers to understand more fully the trade-offs among various policy options and scenarios. Third, the system is easy to operate; even complex scenario runs are completed within minutes.« less

  6. Facility Targeting, Protection and Mission Decision Making Using the VISAC Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morris, Robert H.; Sulfredge, C. David

    2011-01-01

    The Visual Interactive Site Analysis Code (VISAC) has been used by DTRA and several other agencies to aid in targeting facilities and to predict the associated collateral effects for the go, no go mission decision making process. VISAC integrates the three concepts of target geometric modeling, damage assessment capabilities, and an event/fault tree methodology for evaluating accident/incident consequences. It can analyze a variety of accidents/incidents at nuclear or industrial facilities, ranging from simple component sabotage to an attack with military or terrorist weapons. For nuclear facilities, VISAC predicts the facility damage, estimated downtime, amount and timing of any radionuclides released. Used in conjunction with DTRA's HPAC code, VISAC also can analyze transport and dispersion of the radionuclides, levels of contamination of the surrounding area, and the population at risk. VISAC has also been used by the NRC to aid in the development of protective measures for nuclear facilities that may be subjected to attacks by car/truck bombs.

  7. [Comparative analysis of the radionuclide composition in fallout after the Chernobyl and the Fukushima accidents].

    PubMed

    Kotenko, K V; Shinkarev, S M; Abramov, Iu V; Granovskaia, E O; Iatsenko, V N; Gavrilin, Iu I; Margulis, U Ia; Garetskaia, O S; Imanaka, T; Khoshi, M

    2012-01-01

    The nuclear accident occurred at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (March 11, 2011) similarly to the accident at the Chernobyl NPP (April 26, 1986) is related to the level 7 of the INES. It is of interest to make an analysis of the radionuclide composition of the fallout following the both accidents. The results of the spectrometric measurements were used in that comparative analysis. Two areas following the Chernobyl accident were considered: (1) the near zone of the fallout - the Belarusian part of the central spot extended up to 60 km around the Chernobyl NPS and (2) the far zone of the fallout--the "Gomel-Mogilev" spot centered 200 km to the north-northeast of the damaged reactor. In the case of Fukushima accident the near zone up to about 60 km considered. The comparative analysis has been done with respect to refractory radionuclides (95Zr, 95Nb, 141Ce, 144Ce), as well as to the intermediate and volatile radionuclides 103Ru, 106Ru, 131I, 134Cs, 137Cs, 140La, 140Ba and the results of such a comparison have been discussed. With respect to exposure to the public the most important radionuclides are 131I and 137Cs. For the both accidents the ratios of 131I/137Cs in the considered soil samples are in the similar ranges: (3-50) for the Chernobyl samples and (5-70) for the Fukushima samples. Similarly to the Chernobyl accident a clear tendency that the ratio of 131I/137Cs in the fallout decreases with the increase of the ground deposition density of 137Cs within the trace related to a radioactive cloud has been identified for the Fukushima accident. It looks like this is a universal tendency for the ratio of 131I/137Cs versus the 137Cs ground deposition density in the fallout along the trace of a radioactive cloud as a result of a heavy accident at the NPP with radionuclides releases into the environment. This tendency is important for an objective reconstruction of 131I fallout based on the results of 137Cs measurements of soil samples carried out at

  8. Visualization of Traffic Accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, Jie; Shen, Yuzhong; Khattak, Asad

    2010-01-01

    Traffic accidents have tremendous impact on society. Annually approximately 6.4 million vehicle accidents are reported by police in the US and nearly half of them result in catastrophic injuries. Visualizations of traffic accidents using geographic information systems (GIS) greatly facilitate handling and analysis of traffic accidents in many aspects. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Inc. is the world leader in GIS research and development. ArcGIS, a software package developed by ESRI, has the capabilities to display events associated with a road network, such as accident locations, and pavement quality. But when event locations related to a road network are processed, the existing algorithm used by ArcGIS does not utilize all the information related to the routes of the road network and produces erroneous visualization results of event locations. This software bug causes serious problems for applications in which accurate location information is critical for emergency responses, such as traffic accidents. This paper aims to address this problem and proposes an improved method that utilizes all relevant information of traffic accidents, namely, route number, direction, and mile post, and extracts correct event locations for accurate traffic accident visualization and analysis. The proposed method generates a new shape file for traffic accidents and displays them on top of the existing road network in ArcGIS. Visualization of traffic accidents along Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  9. Multi-phase model development to assess RCIC system capabilities under severe accident conditions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kirkland, Karen Vierow; Ross, Kyle; Beeny, Bradley

    The Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) System is a safety-related system that provides makeup water for core cooling of some Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) with a Mark I containment. The RCIC System consists of a steam-driven Terry turbine that powers a centrifugal, multi-stage pump for providing water to the reactor pressure vessel. The Fukushima Dai-ichi accidents demonstrated that the RCIC System can play an important role under accident conditions in removing core decay heat. The unexpectedly sustained, good performance of the RCIC System in the Fukushima reactor demonstrates, firstly, that its capabilities are not well understood, and secondly, that themore » system has high potential for extended core cooling in accident scenarios. Better understanding and analysis tools would allow for more options to cope with a severe accident situation and to reduce the consequences. The objectives of this project were to develop physics-based models of the RCIC System, incorporate them into a multi-phase code and validate the models. This Final Technical Report details the progress throughout the project duration and the accomplishments.« less

  10. Systems-based accident analysis in the led outdoor activity domain: application and evaluation of a risk management framework.

    PubMed

    Salmon, P; Williamson, A; Lenné, M; Mitsopoulos-Rubens, E; Rudin-Brown, C M

    2010-08-01

    Safety-compromising accidents occur regularly in the led outdoor activity domain. Formal accident analysis is an accepted means of understanding such events and improving safety. Despite this, there remains no universally accepted framework for collecting and analysing accident data in the led outdoor activity domain. This article presents an application of Rasmussen's risk management framework to the analysis of the Lyme Bay sea canoeing incident. This involved the development of an Accimap, the outputs of which were used to evaluate seven predictions made by the framework. The Accimap output was also compared to an analysis using an existing model from the led outdoor activity domain. In conclusion, the Accimap output was found to be more comprehensive and supported all seven of the risk management framework's predictions, suggesting that it shows promise as a theoretically underpinned approach for analysing, and learning from, accidents in the led outdoor activity domain. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Accidents represent a significant problem within the led outdoor activity domain. This article presents an evaluation of a risk management framework that can be used to understand such accidents and to inform the development of accident countermeasures and mitigation strategies for the led outdoor activity domain.

  11. CRITICA: coding region identification tool invoking comparative analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Badger, J. H.; Olsen, G. J.; Woese, C. R. (Principal Investigator)

    1999-01-01

    Gene recognition is essential to understanding existing and future DNA sequence data. CRITICA (Coding Region Identification Tool Invoking Comparative Analysis) is a suite of programs for identifying likely protein-coding sequences in DNA by combining comparative analysis of DNA sequences with more common noncomparative methods. In the comparative component of the analysis, regions of DNA are aligned with related sequences from the DNA databases; if the translation of the aligned sequences has greater amino acid identity than expected for the observed percentage nucleotide identity, this is interpreted as evidence for coding. CRITICA also incorporates noncomparative information derived from the relative frequencies of hexanucleotides in coding frames versus other contexts (i.e., dicodon bias). The dicodon usage information is derived by iterative analysis of the data, such that CRITICA is not dependent on the existence or accuracy of coding sequence annotations in the databases. This independence makes the method particularly well suited for the analysis of novel genomes. CRITICA was tested by analyzing the available Salmonella typhimurium DNA sequences. Its predictions were compared with the DNA sequence annotations and with the predictions of GenMark. CRITICA proved to be more accurate than GenMark, and moreover, many of its predictions that would seem to be errors instead reflect problems in the sequence databases. The source code of CRITICA is freely available by anonymous FTP (rdp.life.uiuc.edu in/pub/critica) and on the World Wide Web (http:/(/)rdpwww.life.uiuc.edu).

  12. Trucks involved in fatal accidents codebook 2008.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-01-01

    This report provides documentation for UMTRIs file of Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents : (TIFA), 2008, including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2008 : TIFA file is a census of all medium and heavy trucks invo...

  13. [Severe parachuting accident. Analysis of 122 cases].

    PubMed

    Krauss, U; Mischkowsky, T

    1993-06-01

    Based on a population of 122 severely injured patients the causes of paragliding accidents and the patterns of injury are analyzed. A questionnaire is used to establish a sport-specific profile for the paragliding pilot. The lower limbs (55.7%) and the lower parts of the spine (45.9%) are the most frequently injured parts of the body. There is a high risk of multiple injuries after a single accident because of the tremendous axial power. The standard of equipment is good in over 90% of the cases. Insufficient training and failure to take account of geographical and meteorological conditions are the main determinants of accidents sustained by paragliders, most of whom are young. Nevertheless, 80% of our patients want to continue paragliding. Finally some advice is given on how to prevent paragliding accidents and injuries.

  14. Transient Ejector Analysis (TEA) code user's guide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Drummond, Colin K.

    1993-01-01

    A FORTRAN computer program for the semi analytic prediction of unsteady thrust augmenting ejector performance has been developed, based on a theoretical analysis for ejectors. That analysis blends classic self-similar turbulent jet descriptions with control-volume mixing region elements. Division of the ejector into an inlet, diffuser, and mixing region allowed flexibility in the modeling of the physics for each region. In particular, the inlet and diffuser analyses are simplified by a quasi-steady-analysis, justified by the assumption that pressure is the forcing function in those regions. Only the mixing region is assumed to be dominated by viscous effects. The present work provides an overview of the code structure, a description of the required input and output data file formats, and the results for a test case. Since there are limitations to the code for applications outside the bounds of the test case, the user should consider TEA as a research code (not as a production code), designed specifically as an implementation of the proposed ejector theory. Program error flags are discussed, and some diagnostic routines are presented.

  15. An Analysis of U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents by Cost and Injury (1990-1996)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Iseler, Laura; DeMaio, Joe; Rutkowski, Michael (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    A study of rotorcraft accidents was conducted to identify safety issues and research areas that might lead to a reduction in rotorcraft accidents and fatalities. The primary source of data was summaries of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports. From 1990 to 1996, the NTSB documented 1396 civil rotorcraft accidents in the United States in which 491 people were killed. The rotorcraft data were compared to airline and general aviation data to determine the relative safety of rotorcraft compared to other segments of the aviation industry. In depth analysis of the rotorcraft data addressed demographics, mission, and operational factors. Rotorcraft were found to have an accident rate about ten times that of commercial airliners and about the same as that of general aviation. The likelihood that an accident would be fatal was about equal for all three classes of operation. The most dramatic division in rotorcraft accidents is between flights flown by private pilots versus professional pilots. Private pilots, flying low cost aircraft in benign environments, have accidents that are due, in large part, to their own errors. Professional pilots, in contrast, are more likely to have accidents that are a result of exacting missions or use of specialized equipment. For both groups judgement error is more likely to lead to a fatal accident than are other types of causes. Several approaches to improving the rotorcraft accident rate are recommended. These mostly address improvement in the training of new pilots and improving the safety awareness of private pilots.

  16. Analysis of Convair 990 rejected-takeoff accident with emphasis on decision making, training and procedures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Batthauer, Byron E.

    1987-01-01

    This paper analyzes a NASA Convair 990 (CV-990) accident with emphasis on rejected-takeoff (RTO) decision making, training, procedures, and accident statistics. The NASA Aircraft Accident Investigation Board was somewhat perplexed that an aircraft could be destroyed as a result of blown tires during the takeoff roll. To provide a better understanding of tire failure RTO's, The Board obtained accident reports, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) studies, and other pertinent information related to the elements of this accident. This material enhanced the analysis process and convinced the Accident Board that high-speed RTO's in transport aircraft should be given more emphasis during pilot training. Pilots should be made aware of various RTO situations and statistics with emphasis on failed-tire RTO's. This background information could enhance the split-second decision-making process that is required prior to initiating an RTO.

  17. Preliminary analysis of loss-of-coolant accident in Fukushima nuclear accident

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Su'ud, Zaki; Anshari, Rio

    Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) especially on Fukushima Nuclear Accident will be discussed in this paper. The Tohoku earthquake triggered the shutdown of nuclear power reactors at Fukushima Nuclear Power station. Though shutdown process has been completely performed, cooling process, at much smaller level than in normal operation, is needed to remove decay heat from the reactor core until the reactor reach cold-shutdown condition. If LOCA happen at this condition, it will cause the increase of reactor fuel and other core temperatures and can lead to reactor core meltdown and exposure of radioactive material to the environmentmore » such as in the Fukushima Dai Ichi nuclear accident case. In this study numerical simulation has been performed to calculate pressure composition, water level and temperature distribution on reactor during this accident. There are two coolant regulating system that operational on reactor unit 1 at this accident, Isolation Condensers (IC) system and Safety Relief Valves (SRV) system. Average mass flow of steam to the IC system in this event is 10 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 3,2 hours and fully uncovered in 4,7 hours later. There are two coolant regulating system at operational on reactor unit 2, Reactor Core Isolation Condenser (RCIC) System and Safety Relief Valves (SRV). Average mass flow of coolant that correspond this event is 20 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 73 hours and fully uncovered in 75 hours later. There are three coolant regulating system at operational on reactor unit 3, Reactor Core Isolation Condenser (RCIC) system, High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) system and Safety Relief Valves (SRV). Average mass flow of water that correspond this event is 15 kg/s and could keep reactor core from uncovered about 37 hours and fully uncovered in 40 hours later.« less

  18. Balloon crash damage and injuries: an analysis of 86 accidents, 2000-2004.

    PubMed

    de Voogt, Alexander J; van Doorn, Robert R A

    2006-05-01

    General aviation accounts for the majority of aviation crashes and casualties in the United States. The role of ballooning in these statistics is not regularly studied. Since 2001, the National Transportation and Safety Board has made its accident reports more readily available, which presents opportunities for further study. This study analyzes and compares a 5-yr period of accident reports and includes an analysis of injuries and balloon damage in hot-air and gas balloon accidents. Balloon crash 2-page briefs and 5-page accident reports published by the National Transportation and Safety Board for the 5-yr time period 2000-2004 were examined. Data collected in the investigation of these crashes were analyzed and compared with the epidemiological data collected in earlier research. In 86 crashes during a 5-yr period, there were 4 fatalities and 75 people were seriously injured. Only one accident was reported involving a student pilot. Broken ankles and legs have been the most commonly recorded serious injury, but could not be linked to the severity of damage to the balloon. The absence of student pilot accidents may be explained by possible stricter supervision. Balloon basket and envelopes appear of sufficient quality to withstand crashes, but improving the protection of passengers during hard landings should help to decrease the number of serious injuries in ballooning.

  19. A study on industrial accident rate forecasting and program development of estimated zero accident time in Korea.

    PubMed

    Kim, Tae-gu; Kang, Young-sig; Lee, Hyung-won

    2011-01-01

    To begin a zero accident campaign for industry, the first thing is to estimate the industrial accident rate and the zero accident time systematically. This paper considers the social and technical change of the business environment after beginning the zero accident campaign through quantitative time series analysis methods. These methods include sum of squared errors (SSE), regression analysis method (RAM), exponential smoothing method (ESM), double exponential smoothing method (DESM), auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, and the proposed analytic function method (AFM). The program is developed to estimate the accident rate, zero accident time and achievement probability of an efficient industrial environment. In this paper, MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class) software of Visual Studio 2008 was used to develop a zero accident program. The results of this paper will provide major information for industrial accident prevention and be an important part of stimulating the zero accident campaign within all industrial environments.

  20. Buses involved in fatal accidents codebook 2008.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-03-01

    This report provides documentation for UMTRIs file of Buses Involved in Fatal Accidents (BIFA), 2008, : including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2008 BIFA file is a census of all : buses involved in a fatal acc...

  1. Buses involved in fatal accidents codebook 2007.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-12-01

    This report provides documentation for UMTRIs file of Buses Involved in Fatal Accidents (BIFA), 2007, : including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2007 BIFA file is a census of all : buses involved in a fatal acc...

  2. Wake coupling to full potential rotor analysis code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Torres, Francisco J.; Chang, I-Chung; Oh, Byung K.

    1990-01-01

    The wake information from a helicopter forward flight code is coupled with two transonic potential rotor codes. The induced velocities for the near-, mid-, and far-wake geometries are extracted from a nonlinear rigid wake of a standard performance and analysis code. These, together with the corresponding inflow angles, computation points, and azimuth angles, are then incorporated into the transonic potential codes. The coupled codes can then provide an improved prediction of rotor blade loading at transonic speeds.

  3. Analysis of Loss-of-Coolant Accidents in the NIST Research Reactor - Early Phase

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baek, Joo S.; Diamond, David

    A study of the fuel temperature during the early phase of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in the NIST research reactor (NBSR) was completed. Previous studies had been reported in the preliminary safety analysis report for the conversion of the NBSR from high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to low-enriched (LEU) fuel. Those studies had focused on the most vulnerable LOCA situation, namely, a double-ended guillotine break in the time period after reactor trip when water is drained from either the coolant channels inside the fuel elements or the region outside the fuel elements. The current study fills in a gap in themore » analysis which is the early phase of the event when there may still be water present but the reactor is at power or immediately after reactor trip and pumps have tripped. The calculations were done, for both the current HEU-fueled core and the proposed LEU core, with the TRACE thermal-hydraulic systems code. Several break locations and different break sizes were considered. In all cases the increase in the clad (or fuel meat) temperature was relatively small so that a large margin to the temperature threshold for blistering (the Safety Limit for the NBSR) remained.« less

  4. A Semantic Analysis Method for Scientific and Engineering Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stewart, Mark E. M.

    1998-01-01

    This paper develops a procedure to statically analyze aspects of the meaning or semantics of scientific and engineering code. The analysis involves adding semantic declarations to a user's code and parsing this semantic knowledge with the original code using multiple expert parsers. These semantic parsers are designed to recognize formulae in different disciplines including physical and mathematical formulae and geometrical position in a numerical scheme. In practice, a user would submit code with semantic declarations of primitive variables to the analysis procedure, and its semantic parsers would automatically recognize and document some static, semantic concepts and locate some program semantic errors. A prototype implementation of this analysis procedure is demonstrated. Further, the relationship between the fundamental algebraic manipulations of equations and the parsing of expressions is explained. This ability to locate some semantic errors and document semantic concepts in scientific and engineering code should reduce the time, risk, and effort of developing and using these codes.

  5. Content Analysis Coding Schemes for Online Asynchronous Discussion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weltzer-Ward, Lisa

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: Researchers commonly utilize coding-based analysis of classroom asynchronous discussion contributions as part of studies of online learning and instruction. However, this analysis is inconsistent from study to study with over 50 coding schemes and procedures applied in the last eight years. The aim of this article is to provide a basis…

  6. An association between dietary habits and traffic accidents in patients with chronic liver disease: A data-mining analysis

    PubMed Central

    KAWAGUCHI, TAKUMI; SUETSUGU, TAKURO; OGATA, SHYOU; IMANAGA, MINAMI; ISHII, KUMIKO; ESAKI, NAO; SUGIMOTO, MASAKO; OTSUYAMA, JYURI; NAGAMATSU, AYU; TANIGUCHI, EITARO; ITOU, MINORU; ORIISHI, TETSUHARU; IWASAKI, SHOKO; MIURA, HIROKO; TORIMURA, TAKUJI

    2016-01-01

    The incidence of traffic accidents in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) is high in the USA. However, the characteristics of patients, including dietary habits, differ between Japan and the USA. The present study investigated the incidence of traffic accidents in CLD patients and the clinical profiles associated with traffic accidents in Japan using a data-mining analysis. A cross-sectional study was performed and 256 subjects [148 CLD patients (CLD group) and 106 patients with other digestive diseases (disease control group)] were enrolled; 2 patients were excluded. The incidence of traffic accidents was compared between the two groups. Independent factors for traffic accidents were analyzed using logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. The incidence of traffic accidents did not differ between the CLD and disease control groups (8.8 vs. 11.3%). The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the only independent risk factor for traffic accidents (odds ratio, 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.16–0.85; P=0.0197). Similarly, the results of the decision-tree analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the initial divergence variable. In patients who consumed yoghurt habitually, the incidence of traffic accidents was 6.6%, while that in patients who did not consume yoghurt was 16.0%. CLD was not identified as an independent factor in the logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. In conclusion, the difference in the incidence of traffic accidents in Japan between the CLD and disease control groups was insignificant. Furthermore, yoghurt consumption was an independent negative risk factor for traffic accidents in patients with digestive diseases, including CLD. PMID:27123257

  7. An association between dietary habits and traffic accidents in patients with chronic liver disease: A data-mining analysis.

    PubMed

    Kawaguchi, Takumi; Suetsugu, Takuro; Ogata, Shyou; Imanaga, Minami; Ishii, Kumiko; Esaki, Nao; Sugimoto, Masako; Otsuyama, Jyuri; Nagamatsu, Ayu; Taniguchi, Eitaro; Itou, Minoru; Oriishi, Tetsuharu; Iwasaki, Shoko; Miura, Hiroko; Torimura, Takuji

    2016-05-01

    The incidence of traffic accidents in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) is high in the USA. However, the characteristics of patients, including dietary habits, differ between Japan and the USA. The present study investigated the incidence of traffic accidents in CLD patients and the clinical profiles associated with traffic accidents in Japan using a data-mining analysis. A cross-sectional study was performed and 256 subjects [148 CLD patients (CLD group) and 106 patients with other digestive diseases (disease control group)] were enrolled; 2 patients were excluded. The incidence of traffic accidents was compared between the two groups. Independent factors for traffic accidents were analyzed using logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. The incidence of traffic accidents did not differ between the CLD and disease control groups (8.8 vs. 11.3%). The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the only independent risk factor for traffic accidents (odds ratio, 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.16-0.85; P=0.0197). Similarly, the results of the decision-tree analysis showed that yoghurt consumption was the initial divergence variable. In patients who consumed yoghurt habitually, the incidence of traffic accidents was 6.6%, while that in patients who did not consume yoghurt was 16.0%. CLD was not identified as an independent factor in the logistic regression and decision-tree analyses. In conclusion, the difference in the incidence of traffic accidents in Japan between the CLD and disease control groups was insignificant. Furthermore, yoghurt consumption was an independent negative risk factor for traffic accidents in patients with digestive diseases, including CLD.

  8. Explorative spatial analysis of traffic accident statistics and road mortality among the provinces of Turkey.

    PubMed

    Erdogan, Saffet

    2009-10-01

    The aim of the study is to describe the inter-province differences in traffic accidents and mortality on roads of Turkey. Two different risk indicators were used to evaluate the road safety performance of the provinces in Turkey. These indicators are the ratios between the number of persons killed in road traffic accidents (1) and the number of accidents (2) (nominators) and their exposure to traffic risk (denominator). Population and the number of registered motor vehicles in the provinces were used as denominators individually. Spatial analyses were performed to the mean annual rate of deaths and to the number of fatal accidents that were calculated for the period of 2001-2006. Empirical Bayes smoothing was used to remove background noise from the raw death and accident rates because of the sparsely populated provinces and small number of accident and death rates of provinces. Global and local spatial autocorrelation analyses were performed to show whether the provinces with high rates of deaths-accidents show clustering or are located closer by chance. The spatial distribution of provinces with high rates of deaths and accidents was nonrandom and detected as clustered with significance of P<0.05 with spatial autocorrelation analyses. Regions with high concentration of fatal accidents and deaths were located in the provinces that contain the roads connecting the Istanbul, Ankara, and Antalya provinces. Accident and death rates were also modeled with some independent variables such as number of motor vehicles, length of roads, and so forth using geographically weighted regression analysis with forward step-wise elimination. The level of statistical significance was taken as P<0.05. Large differences were found between the rates of deaths and accidents according to denominators in the provinces. The geographically weighted regression analyses did significantly better predictions for both accident rates and death rates than did ordinary least regressions, as

  9. Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques

    PubMed Central

    Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M.; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

    2018-01-01

    An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector—either surface or underground mining—based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents. PMID:29518921

  10. Analysis of Occupational Accidents in Underground and Surface Mining in Spain Using Data-Mining Techniques.

    PubMed

    Sanmiquel, Lluís; Bascompta, Marc; Rossell, Josep M; Anticoi, Hernán Francisco; Guash, Eduard

    2018-03-07

    An analysis of occupational accidents in the mining sector was conducted using the data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Safety between 2005 and 2015, and data-mining techniques were applied. Data was processed with the software Weka. Two scenarios were chosen from the accidents database: surface and underground mining. The most important variables involved in occupational accidents and their association rules were determined. These rules are composed of several predictor variables that cause accidents, defining its characteristics and context. This study exposes the 20 most important association rules in the sector-either surface or underground mining-based on the statistical confidence levels of each rule as obtained by Weka. The outcomes display the most typical immediate causes, along with the percentage of accidents with a basis in each association rule. The most important immediate cause is body movement with physical effort or overexertion, and the type of accident is physical effort or overexertion. On the other hand, the second most important immediate cause and type of accident are different between the two scenarios. Data-mining techniques were chosen as a useful tool to find out the root cause of the accidents.

  11. Analysis of accidents in nine Iranian gas refineries: 2007-2011.

    PubMed

    Mehrdad, R; Bolouri, A; Shakibmanesh, A R

    2013-10-01

    Occupational accidents are one of the major health hazards in industries and associated with high mortality, morbidity, spiritual damage and economic losses in the world. To determine the incidence of occupational accidents in 9 Iranian gas refineries between March 2007 and February 2011. Data on all occupational accidents occurred between March 2007 and February 2011, as well as other possible associated variables including time of accident, whether the accident was due to a personal or systemic fault, type of accident and its outcomes, age and gender of the victim, the injured parts of the body, job experience, and type of employment, were extracted from HSE reports and notes of health care services. Based on these data, we calculated the incidence rate of accidents and assessed the associated factors. During the 5 studied years, 1129 accidents have been recorded. The incidence of fatal accidents was 1.64 per 100 000 and of nonfatal accidents was 1857 per 100 000 workers per year. 99.4% of injured workers were male. The mean±SD age of injured people was 29.6±7.3 years. Almost 70% of injured workers aged under 30 years. The mean±SD job experience was 5.3±5.3 years. Accidents occurred more commonly around 10:00. More than 60% of accidents happened between 8:00 and 15:00. July had the highest incidence rate. The most common type of accident was being struck by an object (48%). More than 94% of accidents are caused by personal rather than systemic faults. Hands and wrists were the most common injured parts and involved in more than one-third of accidents. 70% of injured workers needed medical treatment and returned to work after primary treatment. The pattern of occupational accidents in Iranian gas refineries is similar to other previous reports in many ways. The incidence did not change significantly over the study period. Establishment of an online network for precise registration, notification and meticulous data collection seems necessary.

  12. Accident patterns for construction-related workers: a cluster analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liao, Chia-Wen; Tyan, Yaw-Yauan

    2012-01-01

    The construction industry has been identified as one of the most hazardous industries. The risk of constructionrelated workers is far greater than that in a manufacturing based industry. However, some steps can be taken to reduce worker risk through effective injury prevention strategies. In this article, k-means clustering methodology is employed in specifying the factors related to different worker types and in identifying the patterns of industrial occupational accidents. Accident reports during the period 1998 to 2008 are extracted from case reports of the Northern Region Inspection Office of the Council of Labor Affairs of Taiwan. The results show that the cluster analysis can indicate some patterns of occupational injuries in the construction industry. Inspection plans should be proposed according to the type of construction-related workers. The findings provide a direction for more effective inspection strategies and injury prevention programs.

  13. Accident patterns for construction-related workers: a cluster analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liao, Chia-Wen; Tyan, Yaw-Yauan

    2011-12-01

    The construction industry has been identified as one of the most hazardous industries. The risk of constructionrelated workers is far greater than that in a manufacturing based industry. However, some steps can be taken to reduce worker risk through effective injury prevention strategies. In this article, k-means clustering methodology is employed in specifying the factors related to different worker types and in identifying the patterns of industrial occupational accidents. Accident reports during the period 1998 to 2008 are extracted from case reports of the Northern Region Inspection Office of the Council of Labor Affairs of Taiwan. The results show that the cluster analysis can indicate some patterns of occupational injuries in the construction industry. Inspection plans should be proposed according to the type of construction-related workers. The findings provide a direction for more effective inspection strategies and injury prevention programs.

  14. Exploring inattention and distraction in the SafetyNet Accident Causation Database.

    PubMed

    Talbot, Rachel; Fagerlind, Helen; Morris, Andrew

    2013-11-01

    Distraction and inattention are considered to be very important and prevalent factors in the causation of road accidents. There have been many recent research studies which have attempted to understand the circumstances under which a driver becomes distracted or inattentive and how distraction/inattention can be prevented. Both factors are thought to have become more important in recent times partly due to the evolution of in-vehicle information and communication technology. This study describes a methodology that was developed to understand when factors such as distraction and inattention may have been contributors to crashes and also describes some of the consequences of distraction and inattention in terms of subsequent driver actions. The study uses data relating to distraction and inattention from the SafetyNet Accident Causation Database. This database was formulated as part of the SafetyNet project to address the lack of representative in-depth accident causation data within the European Union. Data were collected in 6 European countries using 'on-scene' and 'nearly on-scene' crash investigation methodologies. 32% of crashes recorded in the database, involved at least one driver, rider or pedestrian, who was determined to be 'Inattentive' or 'Distracted'. 212 of the drivers were assigned 'Distraction' and 140 drivers were given the code 'Inattention'. It was found that both distraction and inattention often lead to missed observations within the driving task and consequently 'Timing' or 'Direction' become critical events in the aetiology of crashes. In addition, the crash types and outcomes may differ according to the type and nature of the distraction and inattention as determined by the in-depth investigations. The development of accident coding methodology is described in this study as is its evolution into the Driver Reliability and Error Analysis Model (DREAM) version 3.0. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Development of Web Interfaces for Analysis Codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Emoto, M.; Watanabe, T.; Funaba, H.; Murakami, S.; Nagayama, Y.; Kawahata, K.

    Several codes have been developed to analyze plasma physics. However, most of them are developed to run on supercomputers. Therefore, users who typically use personal computers (PCs) find it difficult to use these codes. In order to facilitate the widespread use of these codes, a user-friendly interface is required. The authors propose Web interfaces for these codes. To demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, the authors developed Web interfaces for two analysis codes. One of them is for FIT developed by Murakami. This code is used to analyze the NBI heat deposition, etc. Because it requires electron density profiles, electron temperatures, and ion temperatures as polynomial expressions, those unfamiliar with the experiments find it difficult to use this code, especially visitors from other institutes. The second one is for visualizing the lines of force in the LHD (large helical device) developed by Watanabe. This code is used to analyze the interference caused by the lines of force resulting from the various structures installed in the vacuum vessel of the LHD. This code runs on PCs; however, it requires that the necessary parameters be edited manually. Using these Web interfaces, users can execute these codes interactively.

  16. Transient analysis of ”2 inch Direct Vessel Injection line break” in SPES-2 facility by using TRACE code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Amico, S.; Lombardo, C.; Moscato, I.; Polidori, M.; Vella, G.

    2015-11-01

    In the past few decades a lot of theoretical and experimental researches have been done to understand the physical phenomena characterizing nuclear accidents. In particular, after the Three Miles Island accident, several reactors have been designed to handle successfully LOCA events. This paper presents a comparison between experimental and numerical results obtained for the “2 inch Direct Vessel Injection line break” in SPES-2. This facility is an integral test facility built in Piacenza at the SIET laboratories and simulating the primary circuit, the relevant parts of the secondary circuits and the passive safety systems typical of the AP600 nuclear power plant. The numerical analysis here presented was performed by using TRACE and CATHARE thermal-hydraulic codes with the purpose of evaluating their prediction capability. The main results show that the TRACE model well predicts the overall behaviour of the plant during the transient, in particular it is able to simulate the principal thermal-hydraulic phenomena related to all passive safety systems. The performance of the presented CATHARE noding has suggested some possible improvements of the model.

  17. Delay Analysis of Car-to-Car Reliable Data Delivery Strategies Based on Data Mulling with Network Coding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Joon-Sang; Lee, Uichin; Oh, Soon Young; Gerla, Mario; Lun, Desmond Siumen; Ro, Won Woo; Park, Joonseok

    Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) aims to enhance vehicle navigation safety by providing an early warning system: any chance of accidents is informed through the wireless communication between vehicles. For the warning system to work, it is crucial that safety messages be reliably delivered to the target vehicles in a timely manner and thus reliable and timely data dissemination service is the key building block of VANET. Data mulling technique combined with three strategies, network codeing, erasure coding and repetition coding, is proposed for the reliable and timely data dissemination service. Particularly, vehicles in the opposite direction on a highway are exploited as data mules, mobile nodes physically delivering data to destinations, to overcome intermittent network connectivity cause by sparse vehicle traffic. Using analytic models, we show that in such a highway data mulling scenario the network coding based strategy outperforms erasure coding and repetition based strategies.

  18. Combining task analysis and fault tree analysis for accident and incident analysis: a case study from Bulgaria.

    PubMed

    Doytchev, Doytchin E; Szwillus, Gerd

    2009-11-01

    Understanding the reasons for incident and accident occurrence is important for an organization's safety. Different methods have been developed to achieve this goal. To better understand the human behaviour in incident occurrence we propose an analysis concept that combines Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Task Analysis (TA). The former method identifies the root causes of an accident/incident, while the latter analyses the way people perform the tasks in their work environment and how they interact with machines or colleagues. These methods were complemented with the use of the Human Error Identification in System Tools (HEIST) methodology and the concept of Performance Shaping Factors (PSF) to deepen the insight into the error modes of an operator's behaviour. HEIST shows the external error modes that caused the human error and the factors that prompted the human to err. To show the validity of the approach, a case study at a Bulgarian Hydro power plant was carried out. An incident - the flooding of the plant's basement - was analysed by combining the afore-mentioned methods. The case study shows that Task Analysis in combination with other methods can be applied successfully to human error analysis, revealing details about erroneous actions in a realistic situation.

  19. Analysis of occupational accidents: prevention through the use of additional technical safety measures for machinery.

    PubMed

    Dźwiarek, Marek; Latała, Agata

    2016-01-01

    This article presents an analysis of results of 1035 serious and 341 minor accidents recorded by Poland's National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in 2005-2011, in view of their prevention by means of additional safety measures applied by machinery users. Since the analysis aimed at formulating principles for the application of technical safety measures, the analysed accidents should bear additional attributes: the type of machine operation, technical safety measures and the type of events causing injuries. The analysis proved that the executed tasks and injury-causing events were closely connected and there was a relation between casualty events and technical safety measures. In the case of tasks consisting of manual feeding and collecting materials, the injuries usually occur because of the rotating motion of tools or crushing due to a closing motion. Numerous accidents also happened in the course of supporting actions, like removing pollutants, correcting material position, cleaning, etc.

  20. Utilization of accident databases and fuzzy sets to estimate frequency of HazMat transport accidents.

    PubMed

    Qiao, Yuanhua; Keren, Nir; Mannan, M Sam

    2009-08-15

    Risk assessment and management of transportation of hazardous materials (HazMat) require the estimation of accident frequency. This paper presents a methodology to estimate hazardous materials transportation accident frequency by utilizing publicly available databases and expert knowledge. The estimation process addresses route-dependent and route-independent variables. Negative binomial regression is applied to an analysis of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) accident database to derive basic accident frequency as a function of route-dependent variables, while the effects of route-independent variables are modeled by fuzzy logic. The integrated methodology provides the basis for an overall transportation risk analysis, which can be used later to develop a decision support system.

  1. [Analysis of radiation-hygienic and medical consequences of the Chernobyl accident].

    PubMed

    Onishchenko, G G

    2013-01-01

    Since the day of "the Chernobyl accident" in 1986 more than 25 years have been past. Radioactively contaminated areas 14 subjects of the Russian Federation with a total area of more than 50 thousand km2, where 1.5 million people now reside were exposed to radioactive contamination. Currently, a system of comprehensive evaluation of radiation doses of the population affected by the "Chernobyl accidents", including 11 guidance documents has been created. There are methodically provided works on the assessment of average annual, accumulated and predicted radiation doses of population and its critical groups, as well as doses to the thyroid gland The relevance of the analysis of the consequences of the "Chernobyl accident" is demonstrated by the events in Japan, at nuclear power Fukusima-1. In 2011 - 20/2 there were carried out comprehensive maritime expeditions under the auspices of the Russian Geographical Society with the participation of relevant ministries and agencies, leading academic institutions in Russia. In 2012, work was carried out on radiation protection of the population from the potential transboundary impact of the accident at the Japanese nuclear power plant Fukushima-l. The results provide a basis for the favorable outlook for the radiation environment in our Far East and the Pacific coast of Russia.

  2. Routes to failure: analysis of 41 civil aviation accidents from the Republic of China using the human factors analysis and classification system.

    PubMed

    Li, Wen-Chin; Harris, Don; Yu, Chung-San

    2008-03-01

    The human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS) is based upon Reason's organizational model of human error. HFACS was developed as an analytical framework for the investigation of the role of human error in aviation accidents, however, there is little empirical work formally describing the relationship between the components in the model. This research analyses 41 civil aviation accidents occurring to aircraft registered in the Republic of China (ROC) between 1999 and 2006 using the HFACS framework. The results show statistically significant relationships between errors at the operational level and organizational inadequacies at both the immediately adjacent level (preconditions for unsafe acts) and higher levels in the organization (unsafe supervision and organizational influences). The pattern of the 'routes to failure' observed in the data from this analysis of civil aircraft accidents show great similarities to that observed in the analysis of military accidents. This research lends further support to Reason's model that suggests that active failures are promoted by latent conditions in the organization. Statistical relationships linking fallible decisions in upper management levels were found to directly affect supervisory practices, thereby creating the psychological preconditions for unsafe acts and hence indirectly impairing the performance of pilots, ultimately leading to accidents.

  3. SESAME: a software tool for the numerical dosimetric reconstruction of radiological accidents involving external sources and its application to the accident in Chile in December 2005.

    PubMed

    Huet, C; Lemosquet, A; Clairand, I; Rioual, J B; Franck, D; de Carlan, L; Aubineau-Lanièce, I; Bottollier-Depois, J F

    2009-01-01

    Estimating the dose distribution in a victim's body is a relevant indicator in assessing biological damage from exposure in the event of a radiological accident caused by an external source. This dose distribution can be assessed by physical dosimetric reconstruction methods. Physical dosimetric reconstruction can be achieved using experimental or numerical techniques. This article presents the laboratory-developed SESAME--Simulation of External Source Accident with MEdical images--tool specific to dosimetric reconstruction of radiological accidents through numerical simulations which combine voxel geometry and the radiation-material interaction MCNP(X) Monte Carlo computer code. The experimental validation of the tool using a photon field and its application to a radiological accident in Chile in December 2005 are also described.

  4. Current and anticipated uses of thermal-hydraulic codes in NFI

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tsuda, K.; Takayasu, M.

    1997-07-01

    This paper presents the thermal-hydraulic codes currently used in NFI for the LWR fuel development and licensing application including transient and design basis accident analyses of LWR plants. The current status of the codes are described in the context of code capability, modeling feature, and experience of code application related to the fuel development and licensing. Finally, the anticipated use of the future thermal-hydraulic code in NFI is briefly given.

  5. Professional experience and traffic accidents/near-miss accidents among truck drivers.

    PubMed

    Girotto, Edmarlon; Andrade, Selma Maffei de; González, Alberto Durán; Mesas, Arthur Eumann

    2016-10-01

    To investigate the relationship between the time working as a truck driver and the report of involvement in traffic accidents or near-miss accidents. A cross-sectional study was performed with truck drivers transporting products from the Brazilian grain harvest to the Port of Paranaguá, Paraná, Brazil. The drivers were interviewed regarding sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, behavior in traffic and involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents in the previous 12 months. Subsequently, the participants answered a self-applied questionnaire on substance use. The time of professional experience as drivers was categorized in tertiles. Statistical analyses were performed through the construction of models adjusted by multinomial regression to assess the relationship between the length of experience as a truck driver and the involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents. This study included 665 male drivers with an average age of 42.2 (±11.1) years. Among them, 7.2% and 41.7% of the drivers reported involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, respectively. In fully adjusted analysis, the 3rd tertile of professional experience (>22years) was shown to be inversely associated with involvement in accidents (odds ratio [OR] 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16-0.52) and near-miss accidents (OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.05-0.53). The 2nd tertile of professional experience (11-22 years) was inversely associated with involvement in accidents (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.40-0.98). An evident relationship was observed between longer professional experience and a reduction in reporting involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, regardless of age, substance use, working conditions and behavior in traffic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Causative factors and countermeasures for rural and suburban pedestrian accidents : accident data collection and analysis

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-03-01

    The objectives of the study were to collect and analyze data on rural pedestrian accidents and to identify potential countermeasures. Data on a stratified random sample of over 1,500 rural and suburban accidents from six states was collected during i...

  7. Tobit analysis of vehicle accident rates on interstate highways.

    PubMed

    Anastasopoulos, Panagiotis Ch; Tarko, Andrew P; Mannering, Fred L

    2008-03-01

    There has been an abundance of research that has used Poisson models and its variants (negative binomial and zero-inflated models) to improve our understanding of the factors that affect accident frequencies on roadway segments. This study explores the application of an alternate method, tobit regression, by viewing vehicle accident rates directly (instead of frequencies) as a continuous variable that is left-censored at zero. Using data from vehicle accidents on Indiana interstates, the estimation results show that many factors relating to pavement condition, roadway geometrics and traffic characteristics significantly affect vehicle accident rates.

  8. Analysis of construction accidents in Turkey and responsible parties.

    PubMed

    Gürcanli, G Emre; Müngen, Uğur

    2013-01-01

    Construction is one of the world's biggest industry that includes jobs as diverse as building, civil engineering, demolition, renovation, repair and maintenance. Construction workers are exposed to a wide variety of hazards. This study analyzes 1,117 expert witness reports which were submitted to criminal and labour courts. These reports are from all regions of the country and cover the period 1972-2008. Accidents were classified by the consequence of the incident, time and main causes of the accident, construction type, occupation of the victim, activity at time of the accident and party responsible for the accident. Falls (54.1%), struck by thrown/falling object (12.9%), structural collapses (9.9%) and electrocutions (7.5%) rank first four places. The accidents were most likely between the hours 15:00 and 17:00 (22.6%), 10:00-12:00 (18.7%) and just after the lunchtime (9.9%). Additionally, the most common accidents were further divided into sub-types. Expert-witness assessments were used to identify the parties at fault and what acts of negligence typically lead to accidents. Nearly two thirds of the faulty and negligent acts are carried out by the employers and employees are responsible for almost one third of all cases.

  9. Analysis of Construction Accidents in Turkey and Responsible Parties

    PubMed Central

    GÜRCANLI, G. Emre; MÜNGEN, Uğur

    2013-01-01

    Construction is one of the world’s biggest industry that includes jobs as diverse as building, civil engineering, demolition, renovation, repair and maintenance. Construction workers are exposed to a wide variety of hazards. This study analyzes 1,117 expert witness reports which were submitted to criminal and labour courts. These reports are from all regions of the country and cover the period 1972–2008. Accidents were classified by the consequence of the incident, time and main causes of the accident, construction type, occupation of the victim, activity at time of the accident and party responsible for the accident. Falls (54.1%), struck by thrown/falling object (12.9%), structural collapses (9.9%) and electrocutions (7.5%) rank first four places. The accidents were most likely between the hours 15:00 and 17:00 (22.6%), 10:00–12:00 (18.7%) and just after the lunchtime (9.9%). Additionally, the most common accidents were further divided into sub-types. Expert-witness assessments were used to identify the parties at fault and what acts of negligence typically lead to accidents. Nearly two thirds of the faulty and negligent acts are carried out by the employers and employees are responsible for almost one third of all cases. PMID:24077446

  10. Analysis of occupational accidents: prevention through the use of additional technical safety measures for machinery

    PubMed Central

    Dźwiarek, Marek; Latała, Agata

    2016-01-01

    This article presents an analysis of results of 1035 serious and 341 minor accidents recorded by Poland's National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in 2005–2011, in view of their prevention by means of additional safety measures applied by machinery users. Since the analysis aimed at formulating principles for the application of technical safety measures, the analysed accidents should bear additional attributes: the type of machine operation, technical safety measures and the type of events causing injuries. The analysis proved that the executed tasks and injury-causing events were closely connected and there was a relation between casualty events and technical safety measures. In the case of tasks consisting of manual feeding and collecting materials, the injuries usually occur because of the rotating motion of tools or crushing due to a closing motion. Numerous accidents also happened in the course of supporting actions, like removing pollutants, correcting material position, cleaning, etc. PMID:26652689

  11. Local Laplacian Coding From Theoretical Analysis of Local Coding Schemes for Locally Linear Classification.

    PubMed

    Pang, Junbiao; Qin, Lei; Zhang, Chunjie; Zhang, Weigang; Huang, Qingming; Yin, Baocai

    2015-12-01

    Local coordinate coding (LCC) is a framework to approximate a Lipschitz smooth function by combining linear functions into a nonlinear one. For locally linear classification, LCC requires a coding scheme that heavily determines the nonlinear approximation ability, posing two main challenges: 1) the locality making faraway anchors have smaller influences on current data and 2) the flexibility balancing well between the reconstruction of current data and the locality. In this paper, we address the problem from the theoretical analysis of the simplest local coding schemes, i.e., local Gaussian coding and local student coding, and propose local Laplacian coding (LPC) to achieve the locality and the flexibility. We apply LPC into locally linear classifiers to solve diverse classification tasks. The comparable or exceeded performances of state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  12. Indonesian railway accidents--utilizing Human Factors Analysis and Classification System in determining potential contributing factors.

    PubMed

    Iridiastadi, Hardianto; Ikatrinasari, Zulfa Fitri

    2012-01-01

    The prevalence of Indonesian railway accidents has not been declining, with hundreds of fatalities reported in the past decade. As an effort to help the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), this study was conducted that aimed at understanding factors that might have contributed to the accidents. Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) was utilized for this purpose. A total of nine accident reports (provided by the Indonesian NTSC) involving fatalities were studied using the technique. Results of this study indicated 72 factors that were closely related to the accidents. Of these, roughly 22% were considered as operator acts while about 39% were related to preconditions for operator acts. Supervisory represented 14% of the factors, and the remaining (about 25%) were associated with organizational factors. It was concluded that, while train drivers indeed played an important role in the accidents, interventions solely directed toward train drivers may not be adequate. A more comprehensive approach in minimizing the accidents should be conducted that addresses all the four aspects of HFACS.

  13. Analysis of Two Electrocution Accidents in Greece that Occurred due to Unexpected Re-energization of Power Lines.

    PubMed

    Baka, Aikaterini D; Uzunoglu, Nikolaos K

    2014-09-01

    Investigation and analysis of accidents are critical elements of safety management. The over-riding purpose of an organization in carrying out an accident investigation is to prevent similar accidents, as well as seek a general improvement in the management of health and safety. Hundreds of workers have suffered injuries while installing, maintaining, or servicing machinery and equipment due to sudden re-energization of power lines. This study presents and analyzes two electrical accidents (1 fatal injury and 1 serious injury) that occurred because the power supply was reconnected inadvertently or by mistake.

  14. Analysis of Two Electrocution Accidents in Greece that Occurred due to Unexpected Re-energization of Power Lines

    PubMed Central

    Baka, Aikaterini D.; Uzunoglu, Nikolaos K.

    2014-01-01

    Investigation and analysis of accidents are critical elements of safety management. The over-riding purpose of an organization in carrying out an accident investigation is to prevent similar accidents, as well as seek a general improvement in the management of health and safety. Hundreds of workers have suffered injuries while installing, maintaining, or servicing machinery and equipment due to sudden re-energization of power lines. This study presents and analyzes two electrical accidents (1 fatal injury and 1 serious injury) that occurred because the power supply was reconnected inadvertently or by mistake. PMID:25379331

  15. The Design of PSB-VVER Experiments Relevant to Accident Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nevo, Alessandro Del; D'Auria, Francesco; Mazzini, Marino; Bykov, Michael; Elkin, Ilya V.; Suslov, Alexander

    Experimental programs carried-out in integral test facilities are relevant for validating the best estimate thermal-hydraulic codes(1), which are used for accident analyses, design of accident management procedures, licensing of nuclear power plants, etc. The validation process, in fact, is based on well designed experiments. It consists in the comparison of the measured and calculated parameters and the determination whether a computer code has an adequate capability in predicting the major phenomena expected to occur in the course of transient and/or accidents. University of Pisa was responsible of the numerical design of the 12 experiments executed in PSB-VVER facility (2), operated at Electrogorsk Research and Engineering Center (Russia), in the framework of the TACIS 2.03/97 Contract 3.03.03 Part A, EC financed (3). The paper describes the methodology adopted at University of Pisa, starting form the scenarios foreseen in the final test matrix until the execution of the experiments. This process considers three key topics: a) the scaling issue and the simulation, with unavoidable distortions, of the expected performance of the reference nuclear power plants; b) the code assessment process involving the identification of phenomena challenging the code models; c) the features of the concerned integral test facility (scaling limitations, control logics, data acquisition system, instrumentation, etc.). The activities performed in this respect are discussed, and emphasis is also given to the relevance of the thermal losses to the environment. This issue affects particularly the small scaled facilities and has relevance on the scaling approach related to the power and volume of the facility.

  16. Human error analysis of commercial aviation accidents using the human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2001-02-01

    The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) is a general human error framework : originally developed and tested within the U.S. military as a tool for investigating and analyzing the human : causes of aviation accidents. Based upon ...

  17. Extracting recurrent scenarios from narrative texts using a Bayesian network: application to serious occupational accidents with movement disturbance.

    PubMed

    Abdat, F; Leclercq, S; Cuny, X; Tissot, C

    2014-09-01

    A probabilistic approach has been developed to extract recurrent serious Occupational Accident with Movement Disturbance (OAMD) scenarios from narrative texts within a prevention framework. Relevant data extracted from 143 accounts was initially coded as logical combinations of generic accident factors. A Bayesian Network (BN)-based model was then built for OAMDs using these data and expert knowledge. A data clustering process was subsequently performed to group the OAMDs into similar classes from generic factor occurrence and pattern standpoints. Finally, the Most Probable Explanation (MPE) was evaluated and identified as the associated recurrent scenario for each class. Using this approach, 8 scenarios were extracted to describe 143 OAMDs in the construction and metallurgy sectors. Their recurrent nature is discussed. Probable generic factor combinations provide a fair representation of particularly serious OAMDs, as described in narrative texts. This work represents a real contribution to raising company awareness of the variety of circumstances, in which these accidents occur, to progressing in the prevention of such accidents and to developing an analysis framework dedicated to this kind of accident. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Underreporting of maritime accidents to vessel accident databases.

    PubMed

    Hassel, Martin; Asbjørnslett, Bjørn Egil; Hole, Lars Petter

    2011-11-01

    Underreporting of maritime accidents is a problem not only for authorities trying to improve maritime safety through legislation, but also to risk management companies and other entities using maritime casualty statistics in risk and accident analysis. This study collected and compared casualty data from 01.01.2005 to 31.12.2009, from IHS Fairplay and the maritime authorities from a set of nations. The data was compared to find common records, and estimation of the true number of occurred accidents was performed using conditional probability given positive dependency between data sources, several variations of the capture-recapture method, calculation of best case scenario assuming perfect reporting, and scaling up a subset of casualty information from a marine insurance statistics database. The estimated upper limit reporting performance for the selected flag states ranged from 14% to 74%, while the corresponding estimated coverage of IHS Fairplay ranges from 4% to 62%. On average the study results document that the number of unreported accidents makes up roughly 50% of all occurred accidents. Even in a best case scenario, only a few flag states come close to perfect reporting (94%). The considerable scope of underreporting uncovered in the study, indicates that users of statistical vessel accident data should assume a certain degree of underreporting, and adjust their analyses accordingly. Whether to use correction factors, a safety margin, or rely on expert judgment, should be decided on a case by case basis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Mal-Xtract: Hidden Code Extraction using Memory Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lim, Charles; Syailendra Kotualubun, Yohanes; Suryadi; Ramli, Kalamullah

    2017-01-01

    Software packer has been used effectively to hide the original code inside a binary executable, making it more difficult for existing signature based anti malware software to detect malicious code inside the executable. A new method of written and rewritten memory section is introduced to to detect the exact end time of unpacking routine and extract original code from packed binary executable using Memory Analysis running in an software emulated environment. Our experiment results show that at least 97% of the original code from the various binary executable packed with different software packers could be extracted. The proposed method has also been successfully extracted hidden code from recent malware family samples.

  20. Input-output model for MACCS nuclear accident impacts estimation¹

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Outkin, Alexander V.; Bixler, Nathan E.; Vargas, Vanessa N

    Since the original economic model for MACCS was developed, better quality economic data (as well as the tools to gather and process it) and better computational capabilities have become available. The update of the economic impacts component of the MACCS legacy model will provide improved estimates of business disruptions through the use of Input-Output based economic impact estimation. This paper presents an updated MACCS model, bases on Input-Output methodology, in which economic impacts are calculated using the Regional Economic Accounting analysis tool (REAcct) created at Sandia National Laboratories. This new GDP-based model allows quick and consistent estimation of gross domesticmore » product (GDP) losses due to nuclear power plant accidents. This paper outlines the steps taken to combine the REAcct Input-Output-based model with the MACCS code, describes the GDP loss calculation, and discusses the parameters and modeling assumptions necessary for the estimation of long-term effects of nuclear power plant accidents.« less

  1. RELAP5 Application to Accident Analysis of the NIST Research Reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baek, J.; Cuadra Gascon, A.; Cheng, L.Y.

    Detailed safety analyses have been performed for the 20 MW D{sub 2}O moderated research reactor (NBSR) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The time-dependent analysis of the primary system is determined with a RELAP5 transient analysis model that includes the reactor vessel, the pump, heat exchanger, fuel element geometry, and flow channels for both the six inner and twenty-four outer fuel elements. A post-processing of the simulation results has been conducted to evaluate minimum critical heat flux ratio (CHFR) using the Sudo-Kaminaga correlation. Evaluations are performed for the following accidents: (1) the control rod withdrawal startup accidentmore » and (2) the maximum reactivity insertion accident. In both cases the RELAP5 results indicate that there is adequate margin to CHF and no damage to the fuel will occur because of sufficient coolant flow through the fuel channels and the negative scram reactivity insertion.« less

  2. Energy Savings Analysis of the Proposed NYStretch-Energy Code 2018

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu, Bing; Zhang, Jian; Chen, Yan

    This study was conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in support of the stretch energy code development led by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). In 2017 NYSERDA developed its 2016 Stretch Code Supplement to the 2016 New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code (hereinafter referred to as “NYStretch-Energy”). NYStretch-Energy is intended as a model energy code for statewide voluntary adoption that anticipates other code advancements culminating in the goal of a statewide Net Zero Energy Code by 2028. Since then, NYSERDA continues to develop the NYStretch-Energy Code 2018 edition. To support the effort,more » PNNL conducted energy simulation analysis to quantify the energy savings of proposed commercial provisions of the NYStretch-Energy Code (2018) in New York. The focus of this project is the 20% improvement over existing commercial model energy codes. A key requirement of the proposed stretch code is that it be ‘adoptable’ as an energy code, meaning that it must align with current code scope and limitations, and primarily impact building components that are currently regulated by local building departments. It is largely limited to prescriptive measures, which are what most building departments and design projects are most familiar with. This report describes a set of energy-efficiency measures (EEMs) that demonstrate 20% energy savings over ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013 (ASHRAE 2013) across a broad range of commercial building types and all three climate zones in New York. In collaboration with New Building Institute, the EEMs were developed from national model codes and standards, high-performance building codes and standards, regional energy codes, and measures being proposed as part of the on-going code development process. PNNL analyzed these measures using whole building energy models for selected prototype commercial buildings and multifamily buildings representing buildings

  3. Exploratory reconstructability analysis of accident TBI data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zwick, Martin; Carney, Nancy; Nettleton, Rosemary

    2018-02-01

    This paper describes the use of reconstructability analysis to perform a secondary study of traumatic brain injury data from automobile accidents. Neutral searches were done and their results displayed with a hypergraph. Directed searches, using both variable-based and state-based models, were applied to predict performance on two cognitive tests and one neurological test. Very simple state-based models gave large uncertainty reductions for all three DVs and sizeable improvements in percent correct for the two cognitive test DVs which were equally sampled. Conditional probability distributions for these models are easily visualized with simple decision trees. Confounding variables and counter-intuitive findings are also reported.

  4. Road Traffic Accident Victims’ Experiences of Return to Normal Life: A Qualitative Study

    PubMed Central

    Pashaei Sabet, Fatemeh; Norouzi Tabrizi, Kian; Khankeh, Hamid Reza; Saadat, Soheil; Abedi, Heidar Ali; Bastami, Alireza

    2016-01-01

    Background Road traffic accident (RTA) victims also suffer from different types of injuries and disabilities, which can affect their quality of life. They usually face with various physical, mental, and social problems. Most traffic accident victims had difficulty to return to normal life. Objectives This study aimed to understand the experiences of return to normal life in RTA victims. Patients and Methods This qualitative study with content analysis approach was conducted on 18 Iranian patients with disability in the upper or lower limbs caused by traffic accidents, who had passed a time between 3 months till 2 years. A purposeful sampling method was applied until reaching data saturation. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Afterwards, the gathered data were analyzed through conventional content analysis. Results By analyzing 498 primary codes, four main categories, including supportive needs, adaptation to the new situation, seeking information, and transition from functional limitation, were extracted from traffic accident victims’ experiences of reintegration to normal life. Conclusions The results of this study may help policy-makers to take steps toward health promotion and recovery of RTA victims. Considering the results of this study, it is a need for further research to investigate RTAs victims’ needs for reintegration to home and community. Access to training and supportive facilities like strong therapeutic, nursing and social support, and the possibility to participate in self-care activities is essential for reintegration to community in RTA victims. PMID:27275399

  5. Second-generation antipsychotics and risk of cerebrovascular accidents in the elderly.

    PubMed

    Percudani, Mauro; Barbui, Corrado; Fortino, Ida; Tansella, Michele; Petrovich, Lorenzo

    2005-10-01

    Concern has been recently raised for risperidone and olanzapine, possibly associated with cerebrovascular events in placebo-controlled trials conducted in elderly subjects with dementia. We investigated the relationship between exposure to second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) and occurrence of cerebrovascular accidents in the elderly. From the regional database of hospital admissions of Lombardy, Italy, we extracted all patients aged 65 or older with cerebrovascular-related outcomes for the year 2002. From the regional database of prescriptions reimbursed by the National Health Service, we extracted all patients aged 65 or older who received antipsychotic prescriptions during 2001. The 2 databases were linked anonymously using the individual patient code. The proportions of cerebrovascular accidents were 3.31% (95% confidence interval, 2.95-3.69) in elderly subjects exclusively exposed to SGAs and 2.37% (95% confidence interval, 2.19-2.57) in elderly subjects exclusively exposed to first-generation antipsychotics. After background group differences were controlled for, exposure to SGAs significantly increased the risk of accidents. The analysis of cerebrovascular events in elderly subjects exposed to each individual SGA, in comparison with exposure to haloperidol, showed a significantly increased risk for risperidone only (adjusted odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.93). These data provide preliminary epidemiological evidence that exposure to SGAs, in comparison with exposure to first-generation antipsychotics, significantly increased the risk of cerebrovascular accidents in the elderly.

  6. Pretest aerosol code comparisons for LWR aerosol containment tests LA1 and LA2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wright, A.L.; Wilson, J.H.; Arwood, P.C.

    The Light-Water-Reactor (LWR) Aerosol Containment Experiments (LACE) are being performed in Richland, Washington, at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL) under the leadership of an international project board and the Electric Power Research Institute. These tests have two objectives: (1) to investigate, at large scale, the inherent aerosol retention behavior in LWR containments under simulated severe accident conditions, and (2) to provide an experimental data base for validating aerosol behavior and thermal-hydraulic computer codes. Aerosol computer-code comparison activities are being coordinated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For each of the six LACE tests, ''pretest'' calculations (for code-to-code comparisons) andmore » ''posttest'' calculations (for code-to-test data comparisons) are being performed. The overall goals of the comparison effort are (1) to provide code users with experience in applying their codes to LWR accident-sequence conditions and (2) to evaluate and improve the code models.« less

  7. Risk-based Analysis of Construction Accidents in Iran During 2007-2011-Meta Analyze Study

    PubMed Central

    AMIRI, Mehran; ARDESHIR, Abdollah; FAZEL ZARANDI, Mohammad Hossein

    2014-01-01

    Abstract Background The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of occupational accidents and frequency and severity of work related accidents in the construction industry among Iranian insured workers during the years 20072011. Methods The Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) accident database containing 21,864 cases between the years 2007-2011 was applied in this study. In the next step, Total Accident Rate (TRA), Total Severity Index (TSI), and Risk Factor (RF) were defined. The core of this work is devoted to analyzing the data from different perspectives such as age of workers, occupation and construction phase, day of the week, time of the day, seasonal analysis, regional considerations, type of accident, and body parts affected. Results Workers between 15-19 years old (TAR=13.4%) are almost six times more exposed to risk of accident than the average of all ages (TAR=2.51%). Laborers and structural workers (TAR=66.6%) and those working at heights (TAR=47.2%) experience more accidents than other groups of workers. Moreover, older workers over 65 years old (TSI=1.97%> average TSI=1.60%), work supervisors (TSI=12.20% >average TSI=9.09%), and night shift workers (TSI=1.89% >average TSI=1.47%) are more prone to severe accidents. Conclusion It is recommended that laborers, young workers, weekend and night shift workers be supervised more carefully in the workplace. Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be compulsory in working environments, and special attention should be undertaken to people working outdoors and at heights. It is also suggested that policymakers pay more attention to the improvement of safety conditions in deprived and cold western regions. PMID:26005662

  8. Risk-based Analysis of Construction Accidents in Iran During 2007-2011-Meta Analyze Study.

    PubMed

    Amiri, Mehran; Ardeshir, Abdollah; Fazel Zarandi, Mohammad Hossein

    2014-04-01

    The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of occupational accidents and frequency and severity of work related accidents in the construction industry among Iranian insured workers during the years 20072011. The Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) accident database containing 21,864 cases between the years 2007-2011 was applied in this study. In the next step, Total Accident Rate (TRA), Total Severity Index (TSI), and Risk Factor (RF) were defined. The core of this work is devoted to analyzing the data from different perspectives such as age of workers, occupation and construction phase, day of the week, time of the day, seasonal analysis, regional considerations, type of accident, and body parts affected. Workers between 15-19 years old (TAR=13.4%) are almost six times more exposed to risk of accident than the average of all ages (TAR=2.51%). Laborers and structural workers (TAR=66.6%) and those working at heights (TAR=47.2%) experience more accidents than other groups of workers. Moreover, older workers over 65 years old (TSI=1.97%> average TSI=1.60%), work supervisors (TSI=12.20% >average TSI=9.09%), and night shift workers (TSI=1.89% >average TSI=1.47%) are more prone to severe accidents. It is recommended that laborers, young workers, weekend and night shift workers be supervised more carefully in the workplace. Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be compulsory in working environments, and special attention should be undertaken to people working outdoors and at heights. It is also suggested that policymakers pay more attention to the improvement of safety conditions in deprived and cold western regions.

  9. Uncertainty analysis of accident notification time and emergency medical service response time in work zone traffic accidents.

    PubMed

    Meng, Qiang; Weng, Jinxian

    2013-01-01

    Taking into account the uncertainty caused by exogenous factors, the accident notification time (ANT) and emergency medical service (EMS) response time were modeled as 2 random variables following the lognormal distribution. Their mean values and standard deviations were respectively formulated as the functions of environmental variables including crash time, road type, weekend, holiday, light condition, weather, and work zone type. Work zone traffic accident data from the Fatality Analysis Report System between 2002 and 2009 were utilized to determine the distributions of the ANT and the EMS arrival time in the United States. A mixed logistic regression model, taking into account the uncertainty associated with the ANT and the EMS response time, was developed to estimate the risk of death. The results showed that the uncertainty of the ANT was primarily influenced by crash time and road type, whereas the uncertainty of EMS response time is greatly affected by road type, weather, and light conditions. In addition, work zone accidents occurring during a holiday and in poor light conditions were found to be statistically associated with a longer mean ANT and longer EMS response time. The results also show that shortening the ANT was a more effective approach in reducing the risk of death than the EMS response time in work zones. To shorten the ANT and the EMS response time, work zone activities are suggested to be undertaken during non-holidays, during the daytime, and in good weather and light conditions.

  10. Causes of accidents in terrain parks: an exploratory factor analysis of recreational freestylers' views.

    PubMed

    Carús, Luis

    2014-03-01

    This study examines ski and snowboard terrain park users' views on aspects associated with accidents by identifying and assessing variables that may influence the occurrence of accidents and the resulting injuries. The research was conducted in a major resort in the Spanish Pyrenees, using information gathered from freestyle skiers and snowboarders aged 6 or older. To identify interrelationships among variables and to group the variables belonging to unified concepts, an exploratory factor analysis was performed using varimax rotation. The results revealed 5 factors that grouped the measured variables that may influence the occurrence of accidents while freestyling in terrain parks. The park features, conditions of the activity, and the user's personal conditions were found to have the most substantial influence on the freestylers' perceptions. Variables identified as components of the main factors of accident risk in terrain parks should be incorporated into resort management communication and policies. © 2013 Wilderness Medical Society Published by Wilderness Medical Society All rights reserved.

  11. Preliminary Modeling of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts under Accident Conditions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gamble, Kyle A.; Hales, Jason D.

    2016-12-01

    The catastrophic events that occurred at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011 have led to widespread interest in research of alternative fuels and claddings that are proposed to be accident tolerant. Thus, the United States Department of Energy through its NEAMS (Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation) program has funded an Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) High Impact Problem (HIP). The ATF HIP is funded for a three-year period. The purpose of the HIP is to perform research into two potential accident tolerant concepts and provide an in-depth report to the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) describing the behavior of themore » concepts, both of which are being considered for inclusion in a lead test assembly scheduled for placement into a commercial reactor in 2022. The initial focus of the HIP is on uranium silicide fuel and iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy cladding. Utilizing the expertise of three national laboratory participants (INL, LANL, and ANL) a comprehensive mulitscale approach to modeling is being used including atomistic modeling, molecular dynamics, rate theory, phase-field, and fuel performance simulations. In this paper, we present simulations of two proposed accident tolerant fuel systems: U3Si2 fuel with Zircaloy-4 cladding, and UO2 fuel with FeCrAl cladding. The simulations investigate the fuel performance response of the proposed ATF systems under Loss of Coolant and Station Blackout conditions using the BISON code. Sensitivity analyses are completed using Sandia National Laboratories’ DAKOTA software to determine which input parameters (e.g., fuel specific heat) have the greatest influence on the output metrics of interest (e.g., fuel centerline temperature). Early results indicate that each concept has significant advantages as well as areas of concern. Further work is required prior to formulating the proposition report for the Advanced Fuels Campaign.« less

  12. Causative factors and countermeasures for rural and suburban pedestrian accidents : accident data collection and analysis--appendices

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-06-01

    The objectives of the study were to collect and analyze data on rural pedestrian accidents and to identify potential countermeasures. Data on a stratified random sample of over 1,500 rural and suburban accidents from six states was collected during i...

  13. Analysis of National Major Work Safety Accidents in China, 2003–2012

    PubMed Central

    YE, Yunfeng; ZHANG, Siheng; RAO, Jiaming; WANG, Haiqing; LI, Yang; WANG, Shengyong; DONG, Xiaomei

    2016-01-01

    Background: This study provides a national profile of major work safety accidents in China, which cause more than 10 fatalities per accident, intended to provide scientific basis for prevention measures and strategies to reduce major work safety accidents and deaths. Methods: Data from 2003–2012 Census of major work safety accidents were collected from State Administration of Work Safety System (SAWS). Published literature and statistical yearbook were also included to implement information. We analyzed the frequency of accidents and deaths, trend, geographic distribution and injury types. Additionally, we discussed the severity and urgency of emergency rescue by types of accidents. Results: A total of 877 major work safety accidents were reported, resulting in 16,795 deaths and 9,183 injuries. The numbers of accidents and deaths, mortality rate and incidence of major accidents have declined in recent years. The mortality rate and incidence was 0.71 and 1.20 per 106 populations in 2012, respectively. Transportation and mining contributed to the highest number of major accidents and deaths. Major aviation and railway accidents caused more casualties per incident, while collapse, machinery, electrical shock accidents and tailing dam accidents were the most severe situation that resulted in bigger proportion of death. Conclusion: Ten years’ major work safety accident data indicate that the frequency of accidents and number of eaths was declined and several safety concerns persist in some segments. PMID:27057515

  14. Video analysis of the biomechanics of a bicycle accident resulting in significant facial fractures.

    PubMed

    Syed, Shameer H; Willing, Ryan; Jenkyn, Thomas R; Yazdani, Arjang

    2013-11-01

    This study aimed to use video analysis techniques to determine the velocity, impact force, angle of impact, and impulse to fracture involved in a video-recorded bicycle accident resulting in facial fractures. Computed tomographic images of the resulting facial injury are presented for correlation with data and calculations. To our knowledge, such an analysis of an actual recorded trauma has not been reported in the literature. A video recording of the accident was split into frames and analyzed using an image editing program. Measurements of velocity and angle of impact were obtained from this analysis, and the force of impact and impulse were calculated using the inverse dynamic method with connected rigid body segments. These results were then correlated with the actual fracture pattern found on computed tomographic imaging of the subject's face. There was an impact velocity of 6.25 m/s, impact angles of 14 and 6.3 degrees of neck extension and axial rotation, respectively, an impact force of 1910.4 N, and an impulse to fracture of 47.8 Ns. These physical parameters resulted in clinically significant bilateral mid-facial Le Fort II and III pattern fractures. These data confer further understanding of the biomechanics of bicycle-related accidents by correlating an actual clinical outcome with the kinematic and dynamic parameters involved in the accident itself and yielding a concrete evidence of the velocity, force, and impulse necessary to cause clinically significant facial trauma. These findings can aid in the design of protective equipment for bicycle riders to help avoid this type of injury.

  15. Preliminary Analysis of Aircraft Loss of Control Accidents: Worst Case Precursor Combinations and Temporal Sequencing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Belcastro, Christine M.; Groff, Loren; Newman, Richard L.; Foster, John V.; Crider, Dennis H.; Klyde, David H.; Huston, A. McCall

    2014-01-01

    Aircraft loss of control (LOC) is a leading cause of fatal accidents across all transport airplane and operational classes, and can result from a wide spectrum of hazards, often occurring in combination. Technologies developed for LOC prevention and recovery must therefore be effective under a wide variety of conditions and uncertainties, including multiple hazards, and their validation must provide a means of assessing system effectiveness and coverage of these hazards. This requires the definition of a comprehensive set of LOC test scenarios based on accident and incident data as well as future risks. This paper defines a comprehensive set of accidents and incidents over a recent 15 year period, and presents preliminary analysis results to identify worst-case combinations of causal and contributing factors (i.e., accident precursors) and how they sequence in time. Such analyses can provide insight in developing effective solutions for LOC, and form the basis for developing test scenarios that can be used in evaluating them. Preliminary findings based on the results of this paper indicate that system failures or malfunctions, crew actions or inactions, vehicle impairment conditions, and vehicle upsets contributed the most to accidents and fatalities, followed by inclement weather or atmospheric disturbances and poor visibility. Follow-on research will include finalizing the analysis through a team consensus process, defining future risks, and developing a comprehensive set of test scenarios with correlation to the accidents, incidents, and future risks. Since enhanced engineering simulations are required for batch and piloted evaluations under realistic LOC precursor conditions, these test scenarios can also serve as a high-level requirement for defining the engineering simulation enhancements needed for generating them.

  16. Tank car accident data analysis

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1991-06-01

    This report presents the results of a study of accidents involving railroad tank cars. The study is part of an overall effort to provide improved safety of rail transportation at reduced life-cycle costs. A major goal of the study is to provide a tec...

  17. Meta-analysis of the effect of road safety campaigns on accidents.

    PubMed

    Phillips, Ross Owen; Ulleberg, Pål; Vaa, Truls

    2011-05-01

    A meta-analysis of 67 studies evaluating the effect of road safety campaigns on accidents is reported. A total of 119 results were extracted from the studies, which were reported in 12 different countries between 1975 and 2007. After allowing for publication bias and heterogeneity of effects, the weighted average effect of road safety campaigns is a 9% reduction in accidents (with 95% confidence that the weighted average is between -12 and -6%). To account for the variability of effects measured across studies, data were collected to characterise aspects of the campaign and evaluation design associated with each effect, and analysed to identify a model of seven campaign factors for testing by meta-regression. The model was tested using both fixed and random effect meta-regression, and dependency among effects was accounted for by aggregation. These analyses suggest positive associations between accident reduction and the use of personal communication or roadside media as part of a campaign delivery strategy. Campaigns with a drink-driving theme were also associated with greater accident reductions, while some of the analyses suggested that accompanying enforcement and short campaign duration (less than one month) are beneficial. Overall the results are consistent with the idea that campaigns can be more effective in the short term if the message is delivered with personal communication in a way that is proximal in space and time to the behaviour targeted by the campaign. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Assessing accident phobia in mild traumatic brain injury: The Accident Fear Questionnaire.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, Jessica; Middleton, Jason; Ornstein, Tisha J; Lawson, Kerry; Vickers, Kristin

    2016-08-01

    Despite a documented prevalence of accident phobia in almost 40% of motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors, the onset of accident phobia after traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains poorly understood. There is currently a body of knowledge about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with TBI, but less is known about accident phobia following TBI, particularly in cases of mild TBI (mTBI). Accident phobia can impede safe return to driving or motor vehicle travel, inhibiting return to daily functioning. In addition, pain complaints have been found to correlate positively with postinjury anxiety disorders. The present study sought to determine the reliability and validity of the Accident Fear Questionnaire (AFQ), a measure used to assess accident phobia, in 72 patients with mTBI using secondary data analysis and the subsequent development of accident phobia postinjury. Furthermore, we sought to examine the impact of pain, anxiety, and depression complaints on the AFQ. Results reveal convergent validity and reliability in mTBI populations. Additionally, pain, anxiety, and depression measures were significantly correlated with scores on the AFQ. Psychometrically, the phobia avoidance subscale of the AFQ is a reliable measure for use with mTBI populations, although some limitations were found. In particular, the accident profile (AP) subscale was not found to be reliable or valid and could be eliminated from the AFQ. Collectively, the present study contributes to the small body of published literature evaluating accident phobia in patients with mTBI and the impact of pain on the development of postinjury anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Profile of an accident flying squad.

    PubMed

    Little, K

    1972-09-30

    An analysis of 184 accident flying squad calls and of 280 patients injured in road accidents and treated by a flying squad based on an accident department inclusive from 1967 to 1971 has shown that such a service can provide an efficient system without disrupting the routine work of the hospital.

  20. Preliminary LOCA analysis of the westinghouse small modular reactor using the WCOBRA/TRAC-TF2 thermal-hydraulics code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liao, J.; Kucukboyaci, V. N.; Nguyen, L.

    2012-07-01

    The Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is an 800 MWt (> 225 MWe) integral pressurized water reactor (iPWR) with all primary components, including the steam generator and the pressurizer located inside the reactor vessel. The reactor core is based on a partial-height 17x17 fuel assembly design used in the AP1000{sup R} reactor core. The Westinghouse SMR utilizes passive safety systems and proven components from the AP1000 plant design with a compact containment that houses the integral reactor vessel and the passive safety systems. A preliminary loss of coolant accident (LOCA) analysis of the Westinghouse SMR has been performed using themore » WCOBRA/TRAC-TF2 code, simulating a transient caused by a double ended guillotine (DEG) break in the direct vessel injection (DVI) line. WCOBRA/TRAC-TF2 is a new generation Westinghouse LOCA thermal-hydraulics code evolving from the US NRC licensed WCOBRA/TRAC code. It is designed to simulate PWR LOCA events from the smallest break size to the largest break size (DEG cold leg). A significant number of fluid dynamics models and heat transfer models were developed or improved in WCOBRA/TRAC-TF2. A large number of separate effects and integral effects tests were performed for a rigorous code assessment and validation. WCOBRA/TRAC-TF2 was introduced into the Westinghouse SMR design phase to assist a quick and robust passive cooling system design and to identify thermal-hydraulic phenomena for the development of the SMR Phenomena Identification Ranking Table (PIRT). The LOCA analysis of the Westinghouse SMR demonstrates that the DEG DVI break LOCA is mitigated by the injection and venting from the Westinghouse SMR passive safety systems without core heat up, achieving long term core cooling. (authors)« less

  1. Human error analysis of commercial aviation accidents: application of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification system (HFACS).

    PubMed

    Wiegmann, D A; Shappell, S A

    2001-11-01

    The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) is a general human error framework originally developed and tested within the U.S. military as a tool for investigating and analyzing the human causes of aviation accidents. Based on Reason's (1990) model of latent and active failures, HFACS addresses human error at all levels of the system, including the condition of aircrew and organizational factors. The purpose of the present study was to assess the utility of the HFACS framework as an error analysis and classification tool outside the military. The HFACS framework was used to analyze human error data associated with aircrew-related commercial aviation accidents that occurred between January 1990 and December 1996 using database records maintained by the NTSB and the FAA. Investigators were able to reliably accommodate all the human causal factors associated with the commercial aviation accidents examined in this study using the HFACS system. In addition, the classification of data using HFACS highlighted several critical safety issues in need of intervention research. These results demonstrate that the HFACS framework can be a viable tool for use within the civil aviation arena. However, additional research is needed to examine its applicability to areas outside the flight deck, such as aircraft maintenance and air traffic control domains.

  2. Gyroplane accidents 1985-2005: epidemiological analysis and pilot factors in 223 events.

    PubMed

    Pagán, Brian J; de Voogt, Alex

    2008-10-01

    Gyroplanes (autogyros) are regarded as a relatively safe and stable type of general-aviation aircraft. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration categorizes them as sport pilot/light sport aircraft, and reports of gyroplane accidents are included in a publicly available database. We hypothesized that issues related to pilot experience and aircraft maintenance would affect the severity of accidents as indicated by aircraft damage and fatalities. A search of the National Transportation Safety Board database for the period 1985-2005 yielded 223 reports of gyroplane accidents. Information from those reports was compiled and cross-referenced with pilot performance breakdowns and contextual information. The data was then analyzed using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System. There was a strong effect of pilot experience on crash outcomes; compared to more experienced pilots, crashes involving pilots with less than 40 flight hours in the same make/model gyroplane were five times more likely to involve loss of control, twice as likely to destroy the aircraft, and four times more likely to involve fatalities. On the other hand, crashes involving pilots with more than 40 make/model hours were more likely to be related to perception-based performance breakdown. Maintenance issues were not found to play a significant role in this sample of crashes. The results support the hypothesis that pilot experience is a significant predictor of accident fatality in gyroplanes. Training that is adapted to the experience level of pilots as implemented in new FAA regulations for sport pilot and light sport aircraft (2004) may help to reduce the frequency and seriousness of gyroplane accidents.

  3. Profile of an Accident Flying Squad

    PubMed Central

    Little, Keith

    1972-01-01

    An analysis of 184 accident flying squad calls and of 280 patients injured in road accidents and treated by a flying squad based on an accident department inclusive from 1967 to 1971 has shown that such a service can provide an efficient system without disrupting the routine work of the hospital. PMID:5076258

  4. Aircraft Accident Prevention: Loss-of-Control Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kwatny, Harry G.; Dongmo, Jean-Etienne T.; Chang, Bor-Chin; Bajpai, Guarav; Yasar, Murat; Belcastro, Christine M.

    2009-01-01

    The majority of fatal aircraft accidents are associated with loss-of-control . Yet the notion of loss-of-control is not well-defined in terms suitable for rigorous control systems analysis. Loss-of-control is generally associated with flight outside of the normal flight envelope, with nonlinear influences, and with an inability of the pilot to control the aircraft. The two primary sources of nonlinearity are the intrinsic nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft and the state and control constraints within which the aircraft must operate. In this paper we examine how these nonlinearities affect the ability to control the aircraft and how they may contribute to loss-of-control. Examples are provided using NASA s Generic Transport Model.

  5. Development of the Off-line Analysis Code for GODDESS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garland, Heather; Cizewski, Jolie; Lepailleur, Alex; Walters, David; Pain, Steve; Smith, Karl

    2016-09-01

    Determining (n, γ) cross sections on unstable nuclei is important for understanding the r-process that is theorized to occur in supernovae and neutron-star mergers. However, (n, γ) reactions are difficult to measure directly because of the short lifetime of the involved neutron rich nuclei. A possible surrogate for the (n, γ) reaction is the (d,p γ) reaction; the measurement of these reactions in inverse kinematics is part of the scope of GODDESS - Gammasphere ORRUBA (Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array): Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies. The development of an accurate and efficient off-line analysis code for GODDESS experiments is not only essential, but also provides a unique opportunity to create an analysis code designed specifically for transfer reaction experiments. The off-line analysis code has been developed to produce histograms from the binary data file to determine how to best sort events. Recent developments in the off-line analysis code will be presented as well as details on the energy and position calibrations for the ORRUBA detectors. This work is supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.

  6. Implementation of numerical simulation techniques in analysis of the accidents in complex technological systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Klishin, G.S.; Seleznev, V.E.; Aleoshin, V.V.

    1997-12-31

    Gas industry enterprises such as main pipelines, compressor gas transfer stations, gas extracting complexes belong to the energy intensive industry. Accidents there can result into the catastrophes and great social, environmental and economic losses. Annually, according to the official data several dozens of large accidents take place at the pipes in the USA and Russia. That is why prevention of the accidents, analysis of the mechanisms of their development and prediction of their possible consequences are acute and important tasks nowadays. The accidents reasons are usually of a complicated character and can be presented as a complex combination of natural,more » technical and human factors. Mathematical and computer simulations are safe, rather effective and comparatively inexpensive methods of the accident analysis. It makes it possible to analyze different mechanisms of a failure occurrence and development, to assess its consequences and give recommendations to prevent it. Besides investigation of the failure cases, numerical simulation techniques play an important role in the treatment of the diagnostics results of the objects and in further construction of mathematical prognostic simulations of the object behavior in the period of time between two inspections. While solving diagnostics tasks and in the analysis of the failure cases, the techniques of theoretical mechanics, of qualitative theory of different equations, of mechanics of a continuous medium, of chemical macro-kinetics and optimizing techniques are implemented in the Conversion Design Bureau {number_sign}5 (DB{number_sign}5). Both universal and special numerical techniques and software (SW) are being developed in DB{number_sign}5 for solution of such tasks. Almost all of them are calibrated on the calculations of the simulated and full-scale experiments performed at the VNIIEF and MINATOM testing sites. It is worth noting that in the long years of work there has been established a fruitful and

  7. Analysis of accidents with organic material in health workers.

    PubMed

    Vieira, Mariana; Padilha, Maria Itayra; Pinheiro, Regina Dal Castel

    2011-01-01

    This retrospective and descriptive study with a quantitative design aimed to evaluate occupational accidents with exposure to biological material, as well as the profile of workers, based on reporting forms sent to the Regional Reference Center of Occupational Health in Florianópolis/SC. Data collection was carried out through a survey of 118 reporting forms in 2007. Data were analyzed electronically. The occurrence of accidents was predominantly among nursing technicians, women and the mean age was 34.5 years. 73% of accidents involved percutaneous exposure, 78% had blood and fluid with blood, 44.91% resulted from invasive procedures. It was concluded that strategies to prevent the occurrence of accidents with biological material should include joint activities between workers and service management and should be directed at improving work conditions and organization.

  8. The Analysis of the Contribution of Human Factors to the In-Flight Loss of Control Accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

    2012-01-01

    In-flight loss of control (LOC) is currently the leading cause of fatal accidents based on various commercial aircraft accident statistics. As the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) emerges, new contributing factors leading to LOC are anticipated. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), along with other aviation agencies and communities are actively developing safety products to mitigate the LOC risk. This paper discusses the approach used to construct a generic integrated LOC accident framework (LOCAF) model based on a detailed review of LOC accidents over the past two decades. The LOCAF model is comprised of causal factors from the domain of human factors, aircraft system component failures, and atmospheric environment. The multiple interdependent causal factors are expressed in an Object-Oriented Bayesian belief network. In addition to predicting the likelihood of LOC accident occurrence, the system-level integrated LOCAF model is able to evaluate the impact of new safety technology products developed in AvSP. This provides valuable information to decision makers in strategizing NASA's aviation safety technology portfolio. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of human causal factors in the model, including the contributions from flight crew and maintenance workers. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy was used to develop human related causal factors. The preliminary results from the baseline LOCAF model are also presented.

  9. Dependency graph for code analysis on emerging architectures

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shashkov, Mikhail Jurievich; Lipnikov, Konstantin

    Direct acyclic dependency (DAG) graph is becoming the standard for modern multi-physics codes.The ideal DAG is the true block-scheme of a multi-physics code. Therefore, it is the convenient object for insitu analysis of the cost of computations and algorithmic bottlenecks related to statistical frequent data motion and dymanical machine state.

  10. Upgrades of Two Computer Codes for Analysis of Turbomachinery

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chima, Rodrick V.; Liou, Meng-Sing

    2005-01-01

    Major upgrades have been made in two of the programs reported in "ive Computer Codes for Analysis of Turbomachinery". The affected programs are: Swift -- a code for three-dimensional (3D) multiblock analysis; and TCGRID, which generates a 3D grid used with Swift. Originally utilizing only a central-differencing scheme for numerical solution, Swift was augmented by addition of two upwind schemes that give greater accuracy but take more computing time. Other improvements in Swift include addition of a shear-stress-transport turbulence model for better prediction of adverse pressure gradients, addition of an H-grid capability for flexibility in modeling flows in pumps and ducts, and modification to enable simultaneous modeling of hub and tip clearances. Improvements in TCGRID include modifications to enable generation of grids for more complicated flow paths and addition of an option to generate grids compatible with the ADPAC code used at NASA and in industry. For both codes, new test cases were developed and documentation was updated. Both codes were converted to Fortran 90, with dynamic memory allocation. Both codes were also modified for ease of use in both UNIX and Windows operating systems.

  11. Type airman certification as related to accidents.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1967-10-01

    An analysis of 1964 aircraft accidents, using type of airman certificate as a measure of pilot proficiency, is presented. Data show that student pilots generally have a better accident record than any other of the certification groups. Analysis confi...

  12. Evaluation of the DRAGON code for VHTR design analysis.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Taiwo, T. A.; Kim, T. K.; Nuclear Engineering Division

    2006-01-12

    This letter report summarizes three activities that were undertaken in FY 2005 to gather information on the DRAGON code and to perform limited evaluations of the code performance when used in the analysis of the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) designs. These activities include: (1) Use of the code to model the fuel elements of the helium-cooled and liquid-salt-cooled VHTR designs. Results were compared to those from another deterministic lattice code (WIMS8) and a Monte Carlo code (MCNP). (2) The preliminary assessment of the nuclear data library currently used with the code and libraries that have been provided by themore » IAEA WIMS-D4 Library Update Project (WLUP). (3) DRAGON workshop held to discuss the code capabilities for modeling the VHTR.« less

  13. The potential risk of toxoplasmosis for traffic accidents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Gohardehi, Shaban; Sharif, Mehdi; Sarvi, Shahabeddin; Moosazadeh, Mahmood; Alizadeh-Navaei, Reza; Hosseini, Seyed Abdollah; Amouei, Afsaneh; Pagheh, Abdolsattar; Sadeghi, Mitra; Daryani, Ahmad

    2018-06-12

    Toxoplasmosis is a prevalent infectious disease. Although most people infected by Toxoplasma gondii are asymptomatic, evidence has suggested that this disease might affect some aspects of a host's behavior and associate with schizophrenia, suicide attempt, changes in various aspects of personality, and poor neurocognitive performance. These associations may play roles in increasing the risk of a number of incidents, such as traffic accidents, among infected people. In this regard, this study aimed to provide summary estimates for the available data on the potential risk of toxoplasmosis for traffic accidents. To this end, using a number of search terms, i.e. toxoplasmosis, Toxoplasma gondii, traffic accident, road accident, car accident, crash, and prevalence, literature searches (up to October 1, 2017) were carried out via 6 databases. The meta-analysis was conducted using the StatsDirect statistical software and a P-value less than 0.05 was regarded as significant in all statistical analyses. Out of 1841 identified studies, 9 studies were finally considered eligible for carrying out this systematic review. Reviewing results of these studies indicated that 5 out of 9 studies reported a significant relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and traffic accidents. Additionally, data related to gender showed significant differences between infected and control men and women. Considering age, reviewing the results of these studies revealed a significant difference between the infected people and the Toxoplasma-negative subjects under 45 years of age. However, no significant difference was found between the two groups aged 45 or older. Given these results, it can be concluded that Toxoplasma gondii significantly increases the risk of having traffic accidents. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Meanline Analysis of Turbines with Choked Flow in the Object-Oriented Turbomachinery Analysis Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hendricks, Eric S.

    2016-01-01

    The Object-Oriented Turbomachinery Analysis Code (OTAC) is a new meanline/streamline turbomachinery modeling tool being developed at NASA GRC. During the development process, a limitation of the code was discovered in relation to the analysis of choked flow in axial turbines. This paper describes the relevant physics for choked flow as well as the changes made to OTAC to enable analysis in this flow regime.

  15. NASA Structural Analysis Report on the American Airlines Flight 587 Accident - Local Analysis of the Right Rear Lug

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Raju, Ivatury S; Glaessgen, Edward H.; Mason, Brian H; Krishnamurthy, Thiagarajan; Davila, Carlos G

    2005-01-01

    A detailed finite element analysis of the right rear lug of the American Airlines Flight 587 - Airbus A300-600R was performed as part of the National Transportation Safety Board s failure investigation of the accident that occurred on November 12, 2001. The loads experienced by the right rear lug are evaluated using global models of the vertical tail, local models near the right rear lug, and a global-local analysis procedure. The right rear lug was analyzed using two modeling approaches. In the first approach, solid-shell type modeling is used, and in the second approach, layered-shell type modeling is used. The solid-shell and the layered-shell modeling approaches were used in progressive failure analyses (PFA) to determine the load, mode, and location of failure in the right rear lug under loading representative of an Airbus certification test conducted in 1985 (the 1985-certification test). Both analyses were in excellent agreement with each other on the predicted failure loads, failure mode, and location of failure. The solid-shell type modeling was then used to analyze both a subcomponent test conducted by Airbus in 2003 (the 2003-subcomponent test) and the accident condition. Excellent agreement was observed between the analyses and the observed failures in both cases. From the analyses conducted and presented in this paper, the following conclusions were drawn. The moment, Mx (moment about the fuselage longitudinal axis), has significant effect on the failure load of the lugs. Higher absolute values of Mx give lower failure loads. The predicted load, mode, and location of the failure of the 1985-certification test, 2003-subcomponent test, and the accident condition are in very good agreement. This agreement suggests that the 1985-certification and 2003- subcomponent tests represent the accident condition accurately. The failure mode of the right rear lug for the 1985-certification test, 2003-subcomponent test, and the accident load case is identified as a

  16. [Accidents in travellers - the hidden epidemic].

    PubMed

    Walz, Alexander; Hatz, Christoph

    2013-06-01

    The risk of malaria and other communicable diseases is well addressed in pre-travel advice. Accidents are usually less discussed. Thus, we aimed at assessing accident figures for the Swiss population, based on data of the register from 2004 to 2008 of the largest Swiss accident insurance organization (SUVA). More than 139'000 accidents over 5 years showed that 65 % of the accidents overseas are injuries, and 24 % are caused by poisoning or harm by cold, heat or air pressure. Most accidents happened during leisure activities or sports. More than one third of the non-lethal and more than 50 % of the fatal accidents happened in Asia. More than three-quarters of non-lethal accidents take place in people between 25 and 54 years. One out of 74 insured persons has an accident abroad per year. Despite of many analysis short-comings of the data set with regard to overseas travel, the figures document the underestimated burden of disease caused by accidents abroad and should affect the given pre-health advice.

  17. Occupational accidents aboard merchant ships

    PubMed Central

    Hansen, H; Nielsen, D; Frydenberg, M

    2002-01-01

    Objectives: To investigate the frequency, circumstances, and causes of occupational accidents aboard merchant ships in international trade, and to identify risk factors for the occurrence of occupational accidents as well as dangerous working situations where possible preventive measures may be initiated. Methods: The study is a historical follow up on occupational accidents among crew aboard Danish merchant ships in the period 1993–7. Data were extracted from the Danish Maritime Authority and insurance data. Exact data on time at risk were available. Results: A total of 1993 accidents were identified during a total of 31 140 years at sea. Among these, 209 accidents resulted in permanent disability of 5% or more, and 27 were fatal. The mean risk of having an occupational accident was 6.4/100 years at sea and the risk of an accident causing a permanent disability of 5% or more was 0.67/100 years aboard. Relative risks for notified accidents and accidents causing permanent disability of 5% or more were calculated in a multivariate analysis including ship type, occupation, age, time on board, change of ship since last employment period, and nationality. Foreigners had a considerably lower recorded rate of accidents than Danish citizens. Age was a major risk factor for accidents causing permanent disability. Change of ship and the first period aboard a particular ship were identified as risk factors. Walking from one place to another aboard the ship caused serious accidents. The most serious accidents happened on deck. Conclusions: It was possible to clearly identify work situations and specific risk factors for accidents aboard merchant ships. Most accidents happened while performing daily routine duties. Preventive measures should focus on workplace instructions for all important functions aboard and also on the prevention of accidents caused by walking around aboard the ship. PMID:11850550

  18. Fission product transport analysis in a loss of decay heat removal accident at Browns Ferry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wichner, R.P.; Weber, C.F.; Hodge, S.A.

    1984-01-01

    This paper summarizes an analysis of the movement of noble gases, iodine, and cesium fission products within the Mark-I containment BWR reactor system represented by Browns Ferry Unit 1 during a postulated accident sequence initiated by a loss of decay heat removal (DHR) capability following a scram. The event analysis showed that this accident could be brought under control by various means, but the sequence with no operator action ultimately leads to containment (drywell) failure followed by loss of water from the reactor vessel, core degradation due to overheating, and reactor vessel failure with attendant movement of core debris ontomore » the drywell floor.« less

  19. Lifestyle and accidents among young drivers.

    PubMed

    Gregersen, N P; Berg, H Y

    1994-06-01

    This study covers the lifestyle component of the problems related to young drivers' accident risk. The purpose of the study is to measure the relationship between lifestyle and accident risk, and to identify specific high-risk and low-risk groups. Lifestyle is measured through a questionnaire, where 20-year-olds describe themselves and how often they deal with a large number of different activities, like sports, music, movies, reading, cars and driving, political engagement, etc. They also report their involvement in traffic accidents. With a principal component analysis followed by a cluster analysis, lifestyle profiles are defined. These profiles are finally correlated to accidents, which makes it possible to define high-risk and low-risk groups. The cluster analysis defined 15 clusters including four high-risk groups with an average overrisk of 150% and two low-risk groups with an average underrisk of 75%. The results are discussed from two perspectives. The first is the importance of theoretical understanding of the contribution of lifestyle factors to young drivers' high accident risk. The second is how the findings could be used in practical road safety measures, like education, campaigns, etc.

  20. Methodology, status and plans for development and assessment of Cathare code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bestion, D.; Barre, F.; Faydide, B.

    1997-07-01

    This paper presents the methodology, status and plans for the development, assessment and uncertainty evaluation of the Cathare code. Cathare is a thermalhydraulic code developed by CEA (DRN), IPSN, EDF and FRAMATOME for PWR safety analysis. First, the status of the code development and assessment is presented. The general strategy used for the development and the assessment of the code is presented. Analytical experiments with separate effect tests, and component tests are used for the development and the validation of closure laws. Successive Revisions of constitutive laws are implemented in successive Versions of the code and assessed. System tests ormore » integral tests are used to validate the general consistency of the Revision. Each delivery of a code Version + Revision is fully assessed and documented. A methodology is being developed to determine the uncertainty on all constitutive laws of the code using calculations of many analytical tests and applying the Discrete Adjoint Sensitivity Method (DASM). At last, the plans for the future developments of the code are presented. They concern the optimization of the code performance through parallel computing - the code will be used for real time full scope plant simulators - the coupling with many other codes (neutronic codes, severe accident codes), the application of the code for containment thermalhydraulics. Also, physical improvements are required in the field of low pressure transients and in the modeling for the 3-D model.« less

  1. ICC-CLASS: isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinking analysis software suite

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Successful application of crosslinking combined with mass spectrometry for studying proteins and protein complexes requires specifically-designed crosslinking reagents, experimental techniques, and data analysis software. Using isotopically-coded ("heavy and light") versions of the crosslinker and cleavable crosslinking reagents is analytically advantageous for mass spectrometric applications and provides a "handle" that can be used to distinguish crosslinked peptides of different types, and to increase the confidence of the identification of the crosslinks. Results Here, we describe a program suite designed for the analysis of mass spectrometric data obtained with isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinkers. The suite contains three programs called: DX, DXDX, and DXMSMS. DX searches the mass spectra for the presence of ion signal doublets resulting from the light and heavy isotopic forms of the isotopically-coded crosslinking reagent used. DXDX searches for possible mass matches between cleaved and uncleaved isotopically-coded crosslinks based on the established chemistry of the cleavage reaction for a given crosslinking reagent. DXMSMS assigns the crosslinks to the known protein sequences, based on the isotopically-coded and un-coded MS/MS fragmentation data of uncleaved and cleaved peptide crosslinks. Conclusion The combination of these three programs, which are tailored to the analytical features of the specific isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinking reagents used, represents a powerful software tool for automated high-accuracy peptide crosslink identification. See: http://www.creativemolecules.com/CM_Software.htm PMID:20109223

  2. 10 CFR 76.85 - Assessment of accidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Assessment of accidents. 76.85 Section 76.85 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) CERTIFICATION OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS Safety § 76.85 Assessment of accidents. The Corporation shall perform an analysis of potential accidents and consequences to...

  3. 10 CFR 76.85 - Assessment of accidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Assessment of accidents. 76.85 Section 76.85 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) CERTIFICATION OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS Safety § 76.85 Assessment of accidents. The Corporation shall perform an analysis of potential accidents and consequences to...

  4. 10 CFR 76.85 - Assessment of accidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Assessment of accidents. 76.85 Section 76.85 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) CERTIFICATION OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS Safety § 76.85 Assessment of accidents. The Corporation shall perform an analysis of potential accidents and consequences to...

  5. 10 CFR 76.85 - Assessment of accidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assessment of accidents. 76.85 Section 76.85 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) CERTIFICATION OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS Safety § 76.85 Assessment of accidents. The Corporation shall perform an analysis of potential accidents and consequences to...

  6. 10 CFR 76.85 - Assessment of accidents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Assessment of accidents. 76.85 Section 76.85 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) CERTIFICATION OF GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS Safety § 76.85 Assessment of accidents. The Corporation shall perform an analysis of potential accidents and consequences to...

  7. GIS-based accident location and analysis system (GIS-ALAS) : project report : phase I

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1998-04-06

    This report summarizes progress made in Phase I of the geographic information system (GIS) based Accident Location and Analysis System (GIS-ALAS). The GIS-ALAS project builds on PC-ALAS, a locationally-referenced highway crash database query system d...

  8. A systemic analysis of South Korea Sewol ferry accident - Striking a balance between learning and accountability.

    PubMed

    Kee, Dohyung; Jun, Gyuchan Thomas; Waterson, Patrick; Haslam, Roger

    2017-03-01

    The South Korea Sewol ferry accident in April 2014 claimed the lives of over 300 passengers and led to criminal charges of 399 personnel concerned including imprisonment of 154 of them as of Oct 2014. Blame and punishment culture can be prevalent in a more hierarchical society like South Korea as shown in the aftermath of this disaster. This study aims to analyse the South Korea ferry accident using Rasmussen's risk management framework and the associated AcciMap technique and to propose recommendations drawn from an AcciMap-based focus group with systems safety experts. The data for the accident analysis were collected mainly from an interim investigation report by the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea and major South Korean and foreign newspapers. The analysis showed that the accident was attributed to many contributing factors arising from front-line operators, management, regulators and government. It also showed how the multiple factors including economic, social and political pressures and individual workload contributed to the accident and how they affected each other. This AcciMap was presented to 27 safety researchers and experts at 'the legacy of Jens Rasmussen' symposium adjunct to ODAM2014. Their recommendations were captured through a focus group. The four main recommendations include forgive (no blame and punishment on individuals), analyse (socio-technical system-based), learn (from why things do not go wrong) and change (bottom-up safety culture and safety system management). The findings offer important insights into how this type of accident should be understood, analysed and the subsequent response. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Air oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in the 600-1000 °C temperature range: Modeling for ASTEC code application

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coindreau, O.; Duriez, C.; Ederli, S.

    2010-10-01

    Progress in the treatment of air oxidation of zirconium in severe accident (SA) codes are required for a reliable analysis of severe accidents involving air ingress. Air oxidation of zirconium can actually lead to accelerated core degradation and increased fission product release, especially for the highly-radiotoxic ruthenium. This paper presents a model to simulate air oxidation kinetics of Zircaloy-4 in the 600-1000 °C temperature range. It is based on available experimental data, including separate-effect experiments performed at IRSN and at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The kinetic transition, named "breakaway", from a diffusion-controlled regime to an accelerated oxidation is taken into account in the modeling via a critical mass gain parameter. The progressive propagation of the locally initiated breakaway is modeled by a linear increase in oxidation rate with time. Finally, when breakaway propagation is completed, the oxidation rate stabilizes and the kinetics is modeled by a linear law. This new modeling is integrated in the severe accident code ASTEC, jointly developed by IRSN and GRS. Model predictions and experimental data from thermogravimetric results show good agreement for different air flow rates and for slow temperature transient conditions.

  10. Code comparison for accelerator design and analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Parsa, Z.

    1988-01-01

    We present a comparison between results obtained from standard accelerator physics codes used for the design and analysis of synchrotrons and storage rings, with programs SYNCH, MAD, HARMON, PATRICIA, PATPET, BETA, DIMAD, MARYLIE and RACE-TRACK. In our analysis we have considered 5 (various size) lattices with large and small angles including AGS Booster (10/degree/ bend), RHIC (2.24/degree/), SXLS, XLS (XUV ring with 45/degree/ bend) and X-RAY rings. The differences in the integration methods used and the treatment of the fringe fields in these codes could lead to different results. The inclusion of nonlinear (e.g., dipole) terms may be necessary inmore » these calculations specially for a small ring. 12 refs., 6 figs., 10 tabs.« less

  11. NORTICA—a new code for cyclotron analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gorelov, D.; Johnson, D.; Marti, F.

    2001-12-01

    The new package NORTICA (Numerical ORbit Tracking In Cyclotrons with Analysis) of computer codes for beam dynamics simulations is under development at NSCL. The package was started as a replacement for the code MONSTER [1] developed in the laboratory in the past. The new codes are capable of beam dynamics simulations in both CCF (Coupled Cyclotron Facility) accelerators, the K500 and K1200 superconducting cyclotrons. The general purpose of this package is assisting in setting and tuning the cyclotrons taking into account the main field and extraction channel imperfections. The computer platform for the package is Alpha Station with UNIX operating system and X-Windows graphic interface. A multiple programming language approach was used in order to combine the reliability of the numerical algorithms developed over the long period of time in the laboratory and the friendliness of modern style user interface. This paper describes the capability and features of the codes in the present state.

  12. Analyses in support of risk-informed natural gas vehicle maintenance facility codes and standards :

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ekoto, Isaac W.; Blaylock, Myra L.; LaFleur, Angela Christine

    2014-03-01

    Safety standards development for maintenance facilities of liquid and compressed gas fueled large-scale vehicles is required to ensure proper facility design and operation envelopes. Standard development organizations are utilizing risk-informed concepts to develop natural gas vehicle (NGV) codes and standards so that maintenance facilities meet acceptable risk levels. The present report summarizes Phase I work for existing NGV repair facility code requirements and highlights inconsistencies that need quantitative analysis into their effectiveness. A Hazardous and Operability study was performed to identify key scenarios of interest. Finally, scenario analyses were performed using detailed simulations and modeling to estimate the overpressure hazardsmore » from HAZOP defined scenarios. The results from Phase I will be used to identify significant risk contributors at NGV maintenance facilities, and are expected to form the basis for follow-on quantitative risk analysis work to address specific code requirements and identify effective accident prevention and mitigation strategies.« less

  13. Validation of the CALSPAN gross-motion-simulation code with actually occurring injury patterns in aircraft accidents.

    PubMed

    Ballo, J M; Dunne, M J; McMeekin, R R

    1978-01-01

    Digital simulation of aircraft-accident kinematics has heretofore been used almost exclusively as a design tool to explore structural load limits, precalculate decelerative forces at various cabin stations, and describe the effect of protective devices in the crash environment. In an effort to determine the value of digital computer simulation of fatal aircraft accidents, a fatality involving an ejection-system failure (out-of-envelope ejection) was modeled, and the injuries actually incurred were compared to those predicted; good agreement was found. The simulation of fatal aircraft accidents is advantageous because of a well-defined endpoint (death), lack of therapeutic intervention, and a static anatomic situation that can be minutely investigated. Such simulation techniques are a useful tool in the study of experimental trauma.

  14. Injury protection and accident causation parameters for vulnerable road users based on German In-Depth Accident Study GIDAS.

    PubMed

    Otte, Dietmar; Jänsch, Michael; Haasper, Carl

    2012-01-01

    Within a study of accident data from GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study), vulnerable road users are investigated regarding injury risk in traffic accidents. GIDAS is the largest in-depth accident study in Germany. Due to a well-defined sampling plan, representativeness with respect to the federal statistics is also guaranteed. A hierarchical system ACASS (Accident Causation Analysis with Seven Steps) was developed in GIDAS, describing the human causation factors in a chronological sequence. The accordingly classified causation factors - derived from the systematic of the analysis of human accident causes ("7 steps") - can be used to describe the influence of accident causes on the injury outcome. The bases of the study are accident documentations over ten years from 1999 to 2008 with 8204 vulnerable road users (VRU), of which 3 different groups were selected as pedestrians n=2041, motorcyclists n=2199 and bicyclists n=3964, and analyzed on collisions with cars and trucks as well as vulnerable road users alone. The paper will give a description of the injury pattern and injury mechanisms of accidents. The injury frequencies and severities are pointed out considering different types of VRU and protective measures of helmet and clothes of the human body. The impact points are demonstrated on the car, following to conclusion of protective measures on the vehicle. Existing standards of protection devices as well as interdisciplinary research, including accident and injury statistics, are described. With this paper, a summarization of the existing possibilities on protective measures for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists is given and discussed by comparison of all three groups of vulnerable road users. Also the relevance of special impact situations and accident causes mainly responsible for severe injuries are pointed out, given the new orientation of research for the avoidance and reduction of accident patterns. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Manned space flight nuclear system safety. Volume 3: Reactor system preliminary nuclear safety analysis. Part 2: Accident Model Document (AMD)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1972-01-01

    The Accident Model Document is one of three documents of the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) - Reactor System as applied to a Space Base Program. Potential terrestrial nuclear hazards involving the zirconium hydride reactor-Brayton power module are identified for all phases of the Space Base program. The accidents/events that give rise to the hazards are defined and abort sequence trees are developed to determine the sequence of events leading to the hazard and the associated probabilities of occurence. Source terms are calculated to determine the magnitude of the hazards. The above data is used in the mission accident analysis to determine the most probable and significant accidents/events in each mission phase. The only significant hazards during the prelaunch and launch ascent phases of the mission are those which arise form criticality accidents. Fission product inventories during this time period were found to be very low due to very limited low power acceptance testing.

  16. Geographic analysis of road accident severity index in Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Iyanda, Ayodeji E

    2018-05-28

    Before 2030, deaths from road traffic accidents (RTAs) will surpass cerebrovascular disease, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Yet, there is little knowledge on the geographic distribution of RTA severity in Nigeria. Accident Severity Index is the proportion of deaths that result from a road accident. This study analysed the geographic pattern of RTA severity based on the data retrieved from Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The study predicted a two-year data from a historic road accident data using exponential smoothing technique. To determine spatial autocorrelation, global and local indicators of spatial association were implemented in a geographic information system. Results show significant clusters of high RTA severity among states in the northeast and the northwest of Nigeria. Hence, the findings are discussed from two perspectives: Road traffic law compliance and poor emergency response. Conclusion, the severity of RTA is high in the northern states of Nigeria, hence, RTA remains a public health concern.

  17. Attendance at a hospital emergency department by drivers involved in automobile accidents in Italy.

    PubMed

    Pileggi, C; Nicotera, G; Angelillo, I F

    2005-04-01

    This study investigated the profile of drivers involved in automobile accidents attending a hospital emergency department (ED) in Catanzaro (Italy). Car drivers involved in automobile accidents who were registered for emergency care between May 2003 and February 2004 were included in the study. Demographics and details of the accident were collected immediately after admittance, before examination by the medical staff. For each patient, the medical staff completed a form including diagnostic investigations and medical/surgical examination in the ED. Of a total of 424 drivers included in the study 27.4% had conditions that were definitely non-urgent problems. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the use of the ED as a source of non-urgent care was significantly higher among patients who were driving at a lower speed when the accident occurred, among those who presented to the ED before the implementation of the new Italian traffic code, and among those who underwent fewer diagnostic investigations and medical/surgical examinations in the ED. Most of the automobile related lesions occurred in the neck (43.9%) followed by multiple body regions (12.5%) and the upper extremities (10.4%). According to the nature of the injury a third were contusions (34%), followed by pain without physical signs and symptoms (28.8%), and dislocation, sprains, and strains (22.9%). Development of health promotion and education campaigns is required to prevent the use of the ED as a source of non-urgent care by those involved in automobile accidents.

  18. Rail-highway crossing accident prediction analysis

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1987-04-01

    This report contains technical results that have been produced in a study : to revise and update the DOT rail-highway crossing resource allocation : procedure. This work has resulted in new accident prediction and severity : formulas, a modified and ...

  19. LSENS, The NASA Lewis Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Radhakrishnan, K.

    2000-01-01

    A general chemical kinetics and sensitivity analysis code for complex, homogeneous, gas-phase reactions is described. The main features of the code, LSENS (the NASA Lewis kinetics and sensitivity analysis code), are its flexibility, efficiency and convenience in treating many different chemical reaction models. The models include: static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; incident-shock initiated reaction in a shock tube; and a perfectly stirred reactor. In addition, equilibrium computations can be performed for several assigned states. An implicit numerical integration method (LSODE, the Livermore Solver for Ordinary Differential Equations), which works efficiently for the extremes of very fast and very slow reactions, is used to solve the "stiff" ordinary differential equation systems that arise in chemical kinetics. For static reactions, the code uses the decoupled direct method to calculate sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of dependent variables and/or the rate coefficient parameters. Solution methods for the equilibrium and post-shock conditions and for perfectly stirred reactor problems are either adapted from or based on the procedures built into the NASA code CEA (Chemical Equilibrium and Applications).

  20. Analysis of SMA Hybrid Composite Structures using Commercial Codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Turner, Travis L.; Patel, Hemant D.

    2004-01-01

    A thermomechanical model for shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators and SMA hybrid composite (SMAHC) structures has been recently implemented in the commercial finite element codes MSC.Nastran and ABAQUS. The model may be easily implemented in any code that has the capability for analysis of laminated composite structures with temperature dependent material properties. The model is also relatively easy to use and requires input of only fundamental engineering properties. A brief description of the model is presented, followed by discussion of implementation and usage in the commercial codes. Results are presented from static and dynamic analysis of SMAHC beams of two types; a beam clamped at each end and a cantilevered beam. Nonlinear static (post-buckling) and random response analyses are demonstrated for the first specimen. Static deflection (shape) control is demonstrated for the cantilevered beam. Approaches for modeling SMAHC material systems with embedded SMA in ribbon and small round wire product forms are demonstrated and compared. The results from the commercial codes are compared to those from a research code as validation of the commercial implementations; excellent correlation is achieved in all cases.

  1. Trucks involved in fatal accidents codebook 2004 (Version March 23, 2007).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-03-01

    "This report provides documentation for UMTRIs file of Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA), : 2004, including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2004 TIFA file is : a census of all medium and heavy trucks inv...

  2. Trucks involved in fatal accidents codebook 2010 (Version October 22, 2012).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2012-11-01

    This report provides documentation for UMTRIs file of Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents : (TIFA), 2010, including distributions of the code values for each variable in the file. The 2010 : TIFA file is a census of all medium and heavy trucks invo...

  3. Simulation of hydrostatic water level measuring system for pressure vessels with the ATHLET-code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hampel, R.; Vandreier, B.; Kaestner, W.

    1996-11-01

    The static and dynamic behavior of measuring systems determine the value indicated by the measuring systems in relation to the true operating conditions. This paper demonstrates the necessity to involve the behavior of measuring systems in accident analysis with the thermohydraulic code ATHLET (developed by GRS Germany) by the example of hydrostatic water level measurement for horizontal steam generators on NPP (VVER). The modelling of a comparison vessel for the level measuring system with high sensitivity and a limited range of measurement (narrow-range level measuring system) by using ATHLET components and the checking of the function of the module weremore » realized. A good correspondence (maximal deviation 3%) between the measured and calculated narrow-range water level by the module was obtained for a realized post calculation of a measured operational transient in a NPP (VVER). The research carried out was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology within the projects {open_quotes}Basic research of process and system behaviour of NPP, control technique for accident management{close_quotes} (Project number 150 0855/7) and the project RS 978. The research work appertains to the theoretic and experimental work of institute {open_quotes}Institut fuer ProzeBtechnik, ProzeBautomatisierung und MeBtechnik (IPM){close_quotes} for accident analysis and accident management.« less

  4. Investigation of air cleaning system response to accident conditions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrae, R.W.; Bolstad, J.W.; Foster, R.D.

    1980-01-01

    Air cleaning system response to the stress of accident conditions are being investigated. A program overview and hghlight recent results of our investigation are presented. The program includes both analytical and experimental investigations. Computer codes for predicting effects of tornados, explosions, fires, and material transport are described. The test facilities used to obtain supportive experimental data to define structural integrity and confinement effectiveness of ventilation system components are described. Examples of experimental results for code verification, blower response to tornado transients, and filter response to tornado and explosion transients are reported.

  5. Occupational accidents among mototaxi drivers.

    PubMed

    Amorim, Camila Rego; de Araújo, Edna Maria; de Araújo, Tânia Maria; de Oliveira, Nelson Fernandes

    2012-03-01

    The use of motorcycles as a means of work has contributed to the increase in traffic accidents, in particular, mototaxi accidents. The aim of this study was to estimate and characterize the incidence of occupational accidents among the mototaxis registered in Feira de Santana, BA. This is a cross-sectional study with descriptive and census data. Of the 300 professionals registered at the Municipal Transportation Service, 267 professionals were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Then, a descriptive analysis was conducted and the incidence of accidents was estimated based on the variables studied. Relative risks were calculated and statistical significance was determined using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, considering p < 0.05. Logistic regression was used in order to perform simultaneous adjustment of variables. Occupational accidents were observed in 10.5% of mototaxis. There were mainly minor injuries (48.7%), 27% of them requiring leaves of absence from work. There was an association between the days of work per week, fatigue in lower limbs and musculoskeletal complaints, and accidents. Knowledge of the working conditions and accidents involved in this activity can be of great importance for the adoption of traffic education policies, and to help prevent accidents by improving the working conditions and lives of these professionals.

  6. Optical Surface Analysis Code (OSAC). 7.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glenn, P.

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this modification to the Optical Surface Analysis Code (OSAC) is to upgrade the PSF program to allow the user to get proper diffracted energy normalization even when deliberately obscuring rays with internal obscurations.

  7. GIS based analysis of Intercity Fatal Road Traffic Accidents in Iran

    PubMed Central

    Alizadeh, A; Zare, M; Darparesh, M; Mohseni, S; Soleimani-Ahmadi, M

    2015-01-01

    Road traffic accidents including intercity car traffic accidents (ICTAs) are among the most important causes of morbidity and mortality due to the growing number of vehicles, risky behaviors, and changes in lifestyle of the general population. A sound knowledge of the geographical distribution of car traffic accidents can be considered as an approach towards the accident causation and it can be used as an administrative tool in allocating the sources for traffic accidents prevention. This study was conducted to investigate the geographical distribution and the time trend of fatal intercity car traffic accidents in Iran. To conduct this descriptive study, all Iranian intercity road traffic mortality data were obtained from the Police reports in the Statistical Yearbook of the Governor’s Budget and Planning. The obtained data were for 17 complete Iranian calendar years from March 1997 to March 2012. The incidence rate (IR) of fatal ICTAs for each year was calculated as the total number of fatal ICTAs in every 100000 population in specified time intervals. Figures and maps indicating the trends and geographical distribution of fatal ICTAs were prepared while using Microsoft Excel and ArcGis9.2 software. The number of fatal car accidents showed a general increasing trend from 3000 in 1996 to 13500 in 2012. The incidence of fatal intercity car accidents has changed from six in 100000 population in 1996 to 18 in 100000 population in 2012. GIS based data showed that the incidence rate of ICTAs in different provinces of Iran was very divergent. The highest incidence of fatal ICTAs was in Semnan province (IR= 35.2), followed by North Khorasan (IR=22.7), and South Khorasan (IR=22). The least incidence of fatal ICTAs was in Tehran province (IR=2.4) followed by Khozestan (IR=6.5), and Eastern Azarbayejan (IR=6.6). The compensation cost of fatal ICTAs also showed an increasing trend during the studied period. Since an increasing amount of money was being paid yearly for the

  8. GIS based analysis of Intercity Fatal Road Traffic Accidents in Iran.

    PubMed

    Alizadeh, A; Zare, M; Darparesh, M; Mohseni, S; Soleimani-Ahmadi, M

    2015-01-01

    Road traffic accidents including intercity car traffic accidents (ICTAs) are among the most important causes of morbidity and mortality due to the growing number of vehicles, risky behaviors, and changes in lifestyle of the general population. A sound knowledge of the geographical distribution of car traffic accidents can be considered as an approach towards the accident causation and it can be used as an administrative tool in allocating the sources for traffic accidents prevention. This study was conducted to investigate the geographical distribution and the time trend of fatal intercity car traffic accidents in Iran. To conduct this descriptive study, all Iranian intercity road traffic mortality data were obtained from the Police reports in the Statistical Yearbook of the Governor's Budget and Planning. The obtained data were for 17 complete Iranian calendar years from March 1997 to March 2012. The incidence rate (IR) of fatal ICTAs for each year was calculated as the total number of fatal ICTAs in every 100000 population in specified time intervals. Figures and maps indicating the trends and geographical distribution of fatal ICTAs were prepared while using Microsoft Excel and ArcGis9.2 software. The number of fatal car accidents showed a general increasing trend from 3000 in 1996 to 13500 in 2012. The incidence of fatal intercity car accidents has changed from six in 100000 population in 1996 to 18 in 100000 population in 2012. GIS based data showed that the incidence rate of ICTAs in different provinces of Iran was very divergent. The highest incidence of fatal ICTAs was in Semnan province (IR= 35.2), followed by North Khorasan (IR=22.7), and South Khorasan (IR=22). The least incidence of fatal ICTAs was in Tehran province (IR=2.4) followed by Khozestan (IR=6.5), and Eastern Azarbayejan (IR=6.6). The compensation cost of fatal ICTAs also showed an increasing trend during the studied period. Since an increasing amount of money was being paid yearly for the car

  9. Impact of traffic congestion on road accidents: a spatial analysis of the M25 motorway in England.

    PubMed

    Wang, Chao; Quddus, Mohammed A; Ison, Stephen G

    2009-07-01

    Traffic congestion and road accidents are two external costs of transport and the reduction of their impacts is often one of the primary objectives for transport policy makers. The relationship between traffic congestion and road accidents however is not apparent and less studied. It is speculated that there may be an inverse relationship between traffic congestion and road accidents, and as such this poses a potential dilemma for transport policy makers. This study aims to explore the impact of traffic congestion on the frequency of road accidents using a spatial analysis approach, while controlling for other relevant factors that may affect road accidents. The M25 London orbital motorway, divided into 70 segments, was chosen to conduct this study and relevant data on road accidents, traffic and road characteristics were collected. A robust technique has been developed to map M25 accidents onto its segments. Since existing studies have often used a proxy to measure the level of congestion, this study has employed a precise congestion measurement. A series of Poisson based non-spatial (such as Poisson-lognormal and Poisson-gamma) and spatial (Poisson-lognormal with conditional autoregressive priors) models have been used to account for the effects of both heterogeneity and spatial correlation. The results suggest that traffic congestion has little or no impact on the frequency of road accidents on the M25 motorway. All other relevant factors have provided results consistent with existing studies.

  10. Complaints against doctors in an accident and emergency department: a 10-year analysis.

    PubMed Central

    Kadzombe, E A; Coals, J

    1992-01-01

    We carried out an analysis of complaints against doctors in our Accident and Emergency Department received from 1 January 1979 to 31 December 1988. There were 66 complainants in all, comprising 37 relatives, 21 patients and eight persons acting in a professional capacity. The majority of complaints (80 out of 125) were about poor communication and dissatisfaction with diagnosis and treatment. A small number of complainants had unrealistic expectations of the Accident and Emergency service. A total of 83.3% of complaints were against Senior House Officers who saw 61.3% of all patients. We concluded that an improvement in the communicative, diagnostic and therapeutic skills of doctors would minimize justified complaints. PMID:1388487

  11. Analysis 320 coal mine accidents using structural equation modeling with unsafe conditions of the rules and regulations as exogenous variables.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yingyu; Shao, Wei; Zhang, Mengjia; Li, Hejun; Yin, Shijiu; Xu, Yingjun

    2016-07-01

    Mining has been historically considered as a naturally high-risk industry worldwide. Deaths caused by coal mine accidents are more than the sum of all other accidents in China. Statistics of 320 coal mine accidents in Shandong province show that all accidents contain indicators of "unsafe conditions of the rules and regulations" with a frequency of 1590, accounting for 74.3% of the total frequency of 2140. "Unsafe behaviors of the operator" is another important contributory factor, which mainly includes "operator error" and "venturing into dangerous places." A systems analysis approach was applied by using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the interactions between the contributory factors of coal mine accidents. The analysis of results leads to three conclusions. (i) "Unsafe conditions of the rules and regulations," affect the "unsafe behaviors of the operator," "unsafe conditions of the equipment," and "unsafe conditions of the environment." (ii) The three influencing factors of coal mine accidents (with the frequency of effect relation in descending order) are "lack of safety education and training," "rules and regulations of safety production responsibility," and "rules and regulations of supervision and inspection." (iii) The three influenced factors (with the frequency in descending order) of coal mine accidents are "venturing into dangerous places," "poor workplace environment," and "operator error." Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Analysis of fatal accidents with tractors in the Centre of Portugal: Ten years analysis.

    PubMed

    Antunes, Soraia M; Cordeiro, Cristina; Teixeira, Helena M

    2018-06-01

    Tractors have been described as one of the deadliest farming implements concerning agricultural activity. In Portugal, the scientific investigations about this problem are practically non-existent, with only statistical studies performed by entities related to road traffic safety, not in accordance to the study now performed, pinpointing the possibility of an underreporting of these accidents. This work aims to characterize the fatal tractor accidents in Portugal, autopsied at the Forensic Pathology Department of the Centre Branch of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Portugal, analysing several variables: gender, age, occupation, survival time, the victim position in the tractor, cause of death, toxicological and histological exams, year/month/day of the week, type of agricultural machine, existence of rollover protective structures (ROPS), type of accident, ground conditions, circumstantial information and geographic distribution of the accidents. All the autopsies between 2005 and 2014 were analysed. The victim profile corresponded to a man (89.5%), between 61 and 70 years old (33.3%), retired (43.9%), being the tractor driver (45.6%). In most of the cases, death occurred in less than 24h after the accident. These fatalities arose mainly in May and October. Rollover in sloping land was the most common type of accident, and cranioencephalic, thoracic and abdominal traumatic injuries were the main cause of death. In 16.2% of the cases, blood alcohol concentration was above the lower limit established in our road traffic law (<0.5g/L). There was lack information about the use of ROPS (95.9%), and even when existent, the protections were not used or were incorrectly used. This is the first national study involving the description of the forensic achievements in each autopsy related to tractor accidents, and the corresponding circumstances that contributed to the death. Many barriers remain about this matter, but the Portuguese

  13. Java Source Code Analysis for API Migration to Embedded Systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Winter, Victor; McCoy, James A.; Guerrero, Jonathan

    Embedded systems form an integral part of our technological infrastructure and oftentimes play a complex and critical role within larger systems. From the perspective of reliability, security, and safety, strong arguments can be made favoring the use of Java over C in such systems. In part, this argument is based on the assumption that suitable subsets of Java’s APIs and extension libraries are available to embedded software developers. In practice, a number of Java-based embedded processors do not support the full features of the JVM. For such processors, source code migration is a mechanism by which key abstractions offered bymore » APIs and extension libraries can made available to embedded software developers. The analysis required for Java source code-level library migration is based on the ability to correctly resolve element references to their corresponding element declarations. A key challenge in this setting is how to perform analysis for incomplete source-code bases (e.g., subsets of libraries) from which types and packages have been omitted. This article formalizes an approach that can be used to extend code bases targeted for migration in such a manner that the threats associated the analysis of incomplete code bases are eliminated.« less

  14. Combustion chamber analysis code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Przekwas, A. J.; Lai, Y. G.; Krishnan, A.; Avva, R. K.; Giridharan, M. G.

    1993-01-01

    A three-dimensional, time dependent, Favre averaged, finite volume Navier-Stokes code has been developed to model compressible and incompressible flows (with and without chemical reactions) in liquid rocket engines. The code has a non-staggered formulation with generalized body-fitted-coordinates (BFC) capability. Higher order differencing methodologies such as MUSCL and Osher-Chakravarthy schemes are available. Turbulent flows can be modeled using any of the five turbulent models present in the code. A two-phase, two-liquid, Lagrangian spray model has been incorporated into the code. Chemical equilibrium and finite rate reaction models are available to model chemically reacting flows. The discrete ordinate method is used to model effects of thermal radiation. The code has been validated extensively against benchmark experimental data and has been applied to model flows in several propulsion system components of the SSME and the STME.

  15. What can the drivers' own description from combined sources provide in an analysis of driver distraction and low vigilance in accident situations?

    PubMed

    Tivesten, Emma; Wiberg, Henrik

    2013-03-01

    Accident data play an important role in vehicle safety development. Accident data sources are generally limited in terms of how much information is provided on driver states and behaviour prior to an accident. However, the precise limitations vary between databases, due to differences in analysis focus and data collection procedures between organisations. If information about a specific accident can be retrieved from more than one data source it should be possible to combine the available information sets to facilitate data from one source to compensate for limitations in the other(s). To investigate the viability of such compensation, this study identified a set of accidents recorded in two different data sources. The first data source investigated was an accident mail survey and the second data source insurance claims documents consisting predominantly of insurance claims completed by the involved road users. An analysis of survey variables was compared to a case analysis including word data derived from the same survey and filed insurance claims documents. For each accident, the added value of having access to more than one source of information was assessed. To limit the scope of this study, three particular topics were investigated: available information on low vigilance (e.g., being drowsy, ill); secondary task distraction (e.g., talking with passengers, mobile phone use); and distraction related to the driving task (e.g., looking for approaching vehicles). Results suggest that for low vigilance and secondary task distraction, a combination of the mail survey and insurance claims documents provide more reliable and detailed pre-crash information than survey variables alone. However, driving related distraction appears to be more difficult to capture. In order to gain a better understanding of the above issues and how frequently they occur in accidents, the data sources and analysis methods suggested here may be combined with other investigation methods such

  16. Space shuttle rendezous, radiation and reentry analysis code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcglathery, D. M.

    1973-01-01

    A preliminary space shuttle mission design and analysis tool is reported emphasizing versatility, flexibility, and user interaction through the use of a relatively small computer (IBM-7044). The Space Shuttle Rendezvous, Radiation and Reentry Analysis Code is used to perform mission and space radiation environmental analyses for four typical space shuttle missions. Included also is a version of the proposed Apollo/Soyuz rendezvous and docking test mission. Tangential steering circle to circle low-thrust tug orbit raising and the effects of the trapped radiation environment on trajectory shaping due to solar electric power losses are also features of this mission analysis code. The computational results include a parametric study on single impulse versus double impulse deorbiting for relatively low space shuttle orbits as well as some definitive data on the magnetically trapped protons and electrons encountered on a particular mission.

  17. Squeal Those Tires! Automobile-Accident Reconstruction.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caples, Linda Griffin

    1992-01-01

    Methods use to reconstruct traffic accidents provide settings for real life applications for students in precalculus, mathematical analysis, or trigonometry. Described is the investigation of an accident in conjunction with the local Highway Patrol Academy integrating physics, vector, and trigonometry. Class findings were compared with those of…

  18. Review of U.S. Army Unmanned Aerial Systems Accident Reports: Analysis of Human Error Contributions

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2018-03-20

    USAARL Report No. 2018-08 Review of U.S. Army Unmanned Aerial Systems Accident Reports: Analysis of Human Error Contributions By Kathryn A...3 Statistical Analysis Approach ..............................................................................................3 Results...1 Introduction The success of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations relies upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to

  19. Evaluation of the finite element fuel rod analysis code (FRANCO)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lee, K.; Feltus, M.A.

    1994-12-31

    Knowledge of temperature distribution in a nuclear fuel rod is required to predict the behavior of fuel elements during operating conditions. The thermal and mechanical properties and performance characteristics are strongly dependent on the temperature, which can vary greatly inside the fuel rod. A detailed model of fuel rod behavior can be described by various numerical methods, including the finite element approach. The finite element method has been successfully used in many engineering applications, including nuclear piping and reactor component analysis. However, fuel pin analysis has traditionally been carried out with finite difference codes, with the exception of Electric Powermore » Research Institute`s FREY code, which was developed for mainframe execution. This report describes FRANCO, a finite element fuel rod analysis code capable of computing temperature disrtibution and mechanical deformation of a single light water reactor fuel rod.« less

  20. Code Analysis and Refactoring with Clang Tools, Version 0.1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kelley, Timothy M.

    2016-12-23

    Code Analysis and Refactoring with Clang Tools is a small set of example code that demonstrates techniques for applying tools distributed with the open source Clang compiler. Examples include analyzing where variables are used and replacing old data structures with standard structures.

  1. [Forensic Analysis of 498 Road Traffic Accident Deaths in Haikou City].

    PubMed

    Bai, R; Chen, M

    2017-12-01

    To analyse the characteristics of road traffic accident deaths in Haikou city, and to provide reference for the identification of causes of death and the preventive measures. Totally 498 road traffic accident deaths accepted by the Traffic Police Branch of Haikou City Public Security Bureau in 2014-2016 were collected, and the related parameters such as sex, age, time of the accidents, travel mode of the victims, the types of vehicle and the cause of death were analysed. Most victims aged 21-40 years old with the sex ratio of 3:1, and the accidents mainly happened in March, April, May and October and peaked at 6:01-8:00 and 20:01-22:00 per day. Riding motorbike and electric bicycle, as travel modes, had the highest accident incidence (30.9%). The vast majority of involved vehicles were motorbike and electric bicycle (57.4%). The most common cause of death was craniocerebral injury, followed by chest and abdominal injury. The autopsy of road traffic accident deaths plays an important role in identification of death manner and responsibility confirmation. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine

  2. Sandia National Laboratories analysis code data base

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peterson, C. W.

    1994-11-01

    Sandia National Laboratories' mission is to solve important problems in the areas of national defense, energy security, environmental integrity, and industrial technology. The laboratories' strategy for accomplishing this mission is to conduct research to provide an understanding of the important physical phenomena underlying any problem, and then to construct validated computational models of the phenomena which can be used as tools to solve the problem. In the course of implementing this strategy, Sandia's technical staff has produced a wide variety of numerical problem-solving tools which they use regularly in the design, analysis, performance prediction, and optimization of Sandia components, systems, and manufacturing processes. This report provides the relevant technical and accessibility data on the numerical codes used at Sandia, including information on the technical competency or capability area that each code addresses, code 'ownership' and release status, and references describing the physical models and numerical implementation.

  3. Thermodynamic analysis of cesium and iodine behavior in severe light water reactor accidents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Minato, Kazuo

    1991-11-01

    In order to understand the release and transport behavior of cesium (Cs) and iodine (I) in severe light water reactor accidents, chemical forms of Cs and I in steam-hydrogen mixtures were analyzed thermodynamically. In the calculations reactions of boron (B) with Cs were taken into consideration. The analysis showed that B plays an important role in determining chemical forms of Cs. The main Cs-containing species are CsBO 2(g) and CsBO 2(l), depending on temperature. The contribution of CsOH(g) is minor. The main I-containing species are HI(g) and CsI(g) over the wide ranges of the parameters considered. Calculations were also carried out under the conditions of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident.

  4. Analysis of quantum error-correcting codes: Symplectic lattice codes and toric codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrington, James William

    Quantum information theory is concerned with identifying how quantum mechanical resources (such as entangled quantum states) can be utilized for a number of information processing tasks, including data storage, computation, communication, and cryptography. Efficient quantum algorithms and protocols have been developed for performing some tasks (e.g. , factoring large numbers, securely communicating over a public channel, and simulating quantum mechanical systems) that appear to be very difficult with just classical resources. In addition to identifying the separation between classical and quantum computational power, much of the theoretical focus in this field over the last decade has been concerned with finding novel ways of encoding quantum information that are robust against errors, which is an important step toward building practical quantum information processing devices. In this thesis I present some results on the quantum error-correcting properties of oscillator codes (also described as symplectic lattice codes) and toric codes. Any harmonic oscillator system (such as a mode of light) can be encoded with quantum information via symplectic lattice codes that are robust against shifts in the system's continuous quantum variables. I show the existence of lattice codes whose achievable rates match the one-shot coherent information over the Gaussian quantum channel. Also, I construct a family of symplectic self-dual lattices and search for optimal encodings of quantum information distributed between several oscillators. Toric codes provide encodings of quantum information into two-dimensional spin lattices that are robust against local clusters of errors and which require only local quantum operations for error correction. Numerical simulations of this system under various error models provide a calculation of the accuracy threshold for quantum memory using toric codes, which can be related to phase transitions in certain condensed matter models. I also present

  5. Development of fission-products transport model in severe-accident scenarios for Scdap/Relap5

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Honaiser, Eduardo Henrique Rangel

    The understanding and estimation of the release of fission products during a severe accident became one of the priorities of the nuclear community after 1980, with the events of the Three-mile Island unit 2 (TMI-2), in 1979, and Chernobyl accidents, in 1986. Since this time, theoretical developments and experiments have shown that the primary circuit systems of light water reactors (LWR) have the potential to attenuate the release of fission products, a fact that had been neglected before. An advanced tool, compatible with nuclear thermal-hydraulics integral codes, is developed to predict the retention and physical evolution of the fission products in the primary circuit of LWRs, without considering the chemistry effects. The tool embodies the state-of-the-art models for the involved phenomena as well as develops new models. The capabilities acquired after the implementation of this tool in the Scdap/Relap5 code can be used to increase the accuracy of probability safety assessment (PSA) level 2, enhance the reactor accident management procedures and design new emergency safety features.

  6. Risk assessment of maintenance operations: the analysis of performing task and accident mechanism.

    PubMed

    Carrillo-Castrillo, Jesús A; Rubio-Romero, Juan Carlos; Guadix, Jose; Onieva, Luis

    2015-01-01

    Maintenance operations cover a great number of occupations. Most small and medium-sized enterprises lack the appropriate information to conduct risk assessments of maintenance operations. The objective of this research is to provide a method based on the concepts of task and accident mechanisms for an initial risk assessment by taking into consideration the prevalence and severity of the maintenance accidents reported. Data were gathered from 11,190 reported accidents in maintenance operations in the manufacturing sector of Andalusia from 2003 to 2012. By using a semi-quantitative methodology, likelihood and severity were evaluated based on the actual distribution of accident mechanisms in each of the tasks. Accident mechanisms and tasks were identified by using those variables included in the European Statistics of Accidents at Work methodology. As main results, the estimated risk of the most frequent accident mechanisms identified for each of the analysed tasks is low and the only accident mechanisms with medium risk are accidents when lifting or pushing with physical stress on the musculoskeletal system in tasks involving carrying, and impacts against objects after slipping or stumbling for tasks involving movements. The prioritisation of public preventive actions for the accident mechanisms with a higher estimated risk is highly recommended.

  7. Improvements in the MGA Code Provide Flexibility and Better Error Analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ruhter, W D; Kerr, J

    2005-05-26

    The Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) code is widely used to determine nondestructively the relative isotopic abundances of plutonium by gamma-ray spectrometry. MGA users have expressed concern about the lack of flexibility and transparency in the code. Users often have to ask the code developers for modifications to the code to accommodate new measurement situations, such as additional peaks being present in the plutonium spectrum or expected peaks being absent. We are testing several new improvements to a prototype, general gamma-ray isotopic analysis tool with the intent of either revising or replacing the MGA code. These improvements will give the user themore » ability to modify, add, or delete the gamma- and x-ray energies and branching intensities used by the code in determining a more precise gain and in the determination of the relative detection efficiency. We have also fully integrated the determination of the relative isotopic abundances with the determination of the relative detection efficiency to provide a more accurate determination of the errors in the relative isotopic abundances. We provide details in this paper on these improvements and a comparison of results obtained with current versions of the MGA code.« less

  8. Accident Precursor Analysis and Management: Reducing Technological Risk Through Diligence

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Phimister, James R. (Editor); Bier, Vicki M. (Editor); Kunreuther, Howard C. (Editor)

    2004-01-01

    Almost every year there is at least one technological disaster that highlights the challenge of managing technological risk. On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost during reentry into the atmosphere. In the summer of 2003, there was a blackout that left millions of people in the northeast United States without electricity. Forensic analyses, congressional hearings, investigations by scientific boards and panels, and journalistic and academic research have yielded a wealth of information about the events that led up to each disaster, and questions have arisen. Why were the events that led to the accident not recognized as harbingers? Why were risk-reducing steps not taken? This line of questioning is based on the assumption that signals before an accident can and should be recognized. To examine the validity of this assumption, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) undertook the Accident Precursors Project in February 2003. The project was overseen by a committee of experts from the safety and risk-sciences communities. Rather than examining a single accident or incident, the committee decided to investigate how different organizations anticipate and assess the likelihood of accidents from accident precursors. The project culminated in a workshop held in Washington, D.C., in July 2003. This report includes the papers presented at the workshop, as well as findings and recommendations based on the workshop results and committee discussions. The papers describe precursor strategies in aviation, the chemical industry, health care, nuclear power and security operations. In addition to current practices, they also address some areas for future research.

  9. PASCO: Structural panel analysis and sizing code: Users manual - Revised

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Anderson, M. S.; Stroud, W. J.; Durling, B. J.; Hennessy, K. W.

    1981-01-01

    A computer code denoted PASCO is described for analyzing and sizing uniaxially stiffened composite panels. Buckling and vibration analyses are carried out with a linked plate analysis computer code denoted VIPASA, which is included in PASCO. Sizing is based on nonlinear mathematical programming techniques and employs a computer code denoted CONMIN, also included in PASCO. Design requirements considered are initial buckling, material strength, stiffness and vibration frequency. A user's manual for PASCO is presented.

  10. [Bioethical analysis of the Brazilian Dentistry Code of Ethics].

    PubMed

    Pyrrho, Monique; do Prado, Mauro Machado; Cordón, Jorge; Garrafa, Volnei

    2009-01-01

    The Brazilian Dentistry Code of Ethics (DCE), Resolution CFO-71 from May 2006, is an instrument created to guide dentists' behavior in relation to the ethical aspects of professional practice. The purpose of the study is to analyze the above mentioned code comparing the deontological and bioethical focuses. In order to do so, an interpretative analysis of the code and of twelve selected texts was made. Six of the texts were about bioethics and six on deontology, and the analysis was made through the methodological classification of the context units, textual paragraphs and items from the code in the following categories: the referentials of bioethical principlism--autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice -, technical aspects and moral virtues related to the profession. Together the four principles represented 22.9%, 39.8% and 54.2% of the content of the DCE, of the deontological texts and of the bioethical texts respectively. In the DCE, 42% of the items referred to virtues, 40.2% were associated to technical aspects and just 22.9% referred to principles. The virtues related to the professionals and the technical aspects together amounted to 70.1% of the code. Instead of focusing on the patient as the subject of the process of oral health care, the DCE focuses on the professional, and it is predominantly turned to legalistic and corporate aspects.

  11. Benchmarking of Improved DPAC Transient Deflagration Analysis Code

    DOE PAGES

    Laurinat, James E.; Hensel, Steve J.

    2017-09-27

    The deflagration pressure analysis code (DPAC) has been upgraded for use in modeling hydrogen deflagration transients. The upgraded code is benchmarked using data from vented hydrogen deflagration tests conducted at the HYDRO-SC Test Facility at the University of Pisa. DPAC originally was written to calculate peak pressures for deflagrations in radioactive waste storage tanks and process facilities at the Savannah River Site. Upgrades include the addition of a laminar flame speed correlation for hydrogen deflagrations and a mechanistic model for turbulent flame propagation, incorporation of inertial effects during venting, and inclusion of the effect of water vapor condensation on vesselmore » walls. In addition, DPAC has been coupled with chemical equilibrium with applications (CEA), a NASA combustion chemistry code. The deflagration tests are modeled as end-to-end deflagrations. As a result, the improved DPAC code successfully predicts both the peak pressures during the deflagration tests and the times at which the pressure peaks.« less

  12. Benchmarking of Improved DPAC Transient Deflagration Analysis Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Laurinat, James E.; Hensel, Steve J.

    The deflagration pressure analysis code (DPAC) has been upgraded for use in modeling hydrogen deflagration transients. The upgraded code is benchmarked using data from vented hydrogen deflagration tests conducted at the HYDRO-SC Test Facility at the University of Pisa. DPAC originally was written to calculate peak pressures for deflagrations in radioactive waste storage tanks and process facilities at the Savannah River Site. Upgrades include the addition of a laminar flame speed correlation for hydrogen deflagrations and a mechanistic model for turbulent flame propagation, incorporation of inertial effects during venting, and inclusion of the effect of water vapor condensation on vesselmore » walls. In addition, DPAC has been coupled with chemical equilibrium with applications (CEA), a NASA combustion chemistry code. The deflagration tests are modeled as end-to-end deflagrations. As a result, the improved DPAC code successfully predicts both the peak pressures during the deflagration tests and the times at which the pressure peaks.« less

  13. Automotive Gas Turbine Power System-Performance Analysis Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Juhasz, Albert J.

    1997-01-01

    An open cycle gas turbine numerical modelling code suitable for thermodynamic performance analysis (i.e. thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, cycle state points, working fluid flowrates etc.) of automotive and aircraft powerplant applications has been generated at the NASA Lewis Research Center's Power Technology Division. The use this code can be made available to automotive gas turbine preliminary design efforts, either in its present version, or, assuming that resources can be obtained to incorporate empirical models for component weight and packaging volume, in later version that includes the weight-volume estimator feature. The paper contains a brief discussion of the capabilities of the presently operational version of the code, including a listing of input and output parameters and actual sample output listings.

  14. Comprehensive analysis of atmospheric radionuclides just after the Fukushima accident

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsuruta, Haruo; Oura, Yasuji; Ebihara, Mitsuru; Ohara, Toshimasa; Moriguchi, Yuichi; Nakajima, Teruyuki

    2017-04-01

    Even six years passed after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FD1NPP) accident, we still have large uncertainty for atmospheric transport and deposition models, the estimate of release rate of source terms and of internal exposure from inhalation. For our better understanding and to reduce the uncertainty, we thoroughly analyzed all the published data of radionuclides such as Cs-137, I-131 and Xe-133, and of radiation dose rates at many monitoring sites in eastern Japan. We also retrieved the spatio-temporal distributions of Cs-137 just after the accident by using the unique dataset of hourly radionuclides in atmospheric aerosols collected on the used filter-tapes installed in the suspended particulate matter (SPM) monitors operated at more than 100 stations in the air pollution monitoring network of Japan. The most important findings are summarized as follows. Analyzing the hourly Cs-137 concentrations at two SPM stations located within 20 km from the FD1NPP, we revealed the complicated behavior of plumes and atmospheric radionuclides near the FD1NPP just after the accident. The transport pathways to the northwestern and northern areas from the FD1NPP are clarified especially on March 12-21, 2011. Analysis of the published data clearly shows that atmospheric ratio of I-131/Cs-137 (=R) was mainly divided into two groups, one (R≦10) is for the plumes before March 21, 2011, and the other (R>100) is after that day. These two groups are consistent in all the measured sites, whether the sites are in the Fukushima prefecture or in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. These results are expected partially to identify the source term for each plume.

  15. Development of a bespoke human factors taxonomy for gliding accident analysis and its revelations about highly inexperienced UK glider pilots.

    PubMed

    Jarvis, Steve; Harris, Don

    2010-02-01

    Low-hours solo glider pilots have a high risk of accidents compared to more experienced pilots. Numerous taxonomies for causal accident analysis have been produced for powered aviation but none of these is suitable for gliding, so a new taxonomy was required. A human factors taxonomy specifically for glider operations was developed and used to analyse all UK gliding accidents from 2002 to 2006 for their overall causes as well as factors specific to low hours pilots. Fifty-nine categories of pilot-related accident causation emerged, which were formed into progressively larger categories until four overall human factors groups were arrived at: 'judgement'; 'handling'; 'strategy'; 'attention'. 'Handling' accounted for a significantly higher proportion of injuries than other categories. Inexperienced pilots had considerably more accidents in all categories except 'strategy'. Approach control (path judgement, airbrake and speed handling) as well as landing flare misjudgement were chiefly responsible for the high accident rate in early solo glider pilots. Statement of Relevance: This paper uses extant accident data to produce a taxonomy of underlying human factors causes to analyse gliding accidents and identify the specific causes associated with low hours pilots. From this specific, well-targeted remedial measures can be identified.

  16. [Spatial analysis of road traffic accidents with fatalities in Spain, 2008-2011].

    PubMed

    Gómez-Barroso, Diana; López-Cuadrado, Teresa; Llácer, Alicia; Palmera Suárez, Rocío; Fernández-Cuenca, Rafael

    2015-09-01

    To estimate the areas of greatest density of road traffic accidents with fatalities at 24 hours per km(2)/year in Spain from 2008 to 2011, using a geographic information system. Accidents were geocodified using the road and kilometer points where they occurred. The average nearest neighbor was calculated to detect possible clusters and to obtain the bandwidth for kernel density estimation. A total of 4775 accidents were analyzed, of which 73.3% occurred on conventional roads. The estimated average distance between accidents was 1,242 meters, and the average expected distance was 10,738 meters. The nearest neighbor index was 0.11, indicating that there were aggregations of accidents in space. A map showing the kernel density was obtained with a resolution of 1 km(2), which identified the areas of highest density. This methodology allowed a better approximation to locating accident risks by taking into account kilometer points. The map shows areas where there was a greater density of accidents. This could be an advantage in decision-making by the relevant authorities. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  17. Analysis of Workplace Accidents in Automotive Repair Workshops in Spain.

    PubMed

    López-Arquillos, Antonio; Rubio-Romero, Juan Carlos

    2016-09-01

    To analyze the effects of the factors associated with different types of injury (superficial wounds, dislocations and sprains, bone fractures, concussion and internal injuries, burns scalding and freezing) caused by occupational accidents in automotive repair workshops. Study of a sample consisting of 89,954 industry accidents reported from 2003 to 2008. Odds ratios were calculated with a 95% confidence interval. Belonging to a small company is a risk factor for suffering three of the five types of injury studied. Women are less likely to suffer burns and superficial wounds, and more likely to suffer dislocations or sprains. Foreign workers are more likely to suffer concussion and internal injuries. Health and safety strategies and accident prevention measures should be individualized and adapted to the type of worker most likely to be injured in each type of accident. Occupational health and safety training courses designed according to worker profile, and improving the participation of the workers in small firms creating regional or roving safety representatives would improve working conditions.

  18. An Accident Precursor Analysis Process Tailored for NASA Space Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Groen, Frank; Stamatelatos, Michael; Dezfuli, Homayoon; Maggio, Gaspare

    2010-01-01

    Accident Precursor Analysis (APA) serves as the bridge between existing risk modeling activities, which are often based on historical or generic failure statistics, and system anomalies, which provide crucial information about the failure mechanisms that are actually operative in the system and which may differ in frequency or type from those in the various models. These discrepancies between the models (perceived risk) and the system (actual risk) provide the leading indication of an underappreciated risk. This paper presents an APA process developed specifically for NASA Earth-to-Orbit space systems. The purpose of the process is to identify and characterize potential sources of system risk as evidenced by anomalous events which, although not necessarily presenting an immediate safety impact, may indicate that an unknown or insufficiently understood risk-significant condition exists in the system. Such anomalous events are considered accident precursors because they signal the potential for severe consequences that may occur in the future, due to causes that are discernible from their occurrence today. Their early identification allows them to be integrated into the overall system risk model used to intbrm decisions relating to safety.

  19. Comprehensive Micromechanics-Analysis Code - Version 4.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Arnold, S. M.; Bednarcyk, B. A.

    2005-01-01

    Version 4.0 of the Micromechanics Analysis Code With Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) has been developed as an improved means of computational simulation of advanced composite materials. The previous version of MAC/GMC was described in "Comprehensive Micromechanics-Analysis Code" (LEW-16870), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 24, No. 6 (June 2000), page 38. To recapitulate: MAC/GMC is a computer program that predicts the elastic and inelastic thermomechanical responses of continuous and discontinuous composite materials with arbitrary internal microstructures and reinforcement shapes. The predictive capability of MAC/GMC rests on a model known as the generalized method of cells (GMC) - a continuum-based model of micromechanics that provides closed-form expressions for the macroscopic response of a composite material in terms of the properties, sizes, shapes, and responses of the individual constituents or phases that make up the material. Enhancements in version 4.0 include a capability for modeling thermomechanically and electromagnetically coupled ("smart") materials; a more-accurate (high-fidelity) version of the GMC; a capability to simulate discontinuous plies within a laminate; additional constitutive models of materials; expanded yield-surface-analysis capabilities; and expanded failure-analysis and life-prediction capabilities on both the microscopic and macroscopic scales.

  20. 1997 Oregon state highway accident rate tables

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1998-08-01

    The three parts of this report are: : I Results of Analysis containing comparative tables and the Signed Route on Highway list, : II Five year accident rate data by highway sections, : III A summary of this year's fatal traffic accidents. : The first...

  1. Primary school accident reporting in one education authority.

    PubMed

    Latif, A H A; Williams, W R; Sibert, J

    2002-02-01

    Studies have shown a correlation between increased accident rates and levels of deprivation in the community. School accident reporting is one area where an association might be expected. To investigate differences in primary school accident rates in deprived and more affluent wards, in an area managed by one education authority. Statistical analysis of accident form returns for 100 primary schools in one education authority in Wales over a two year period, in conjunction with visits to over one third of school sites. Accident report rates from schools in deprived wards were three times higher than those from schools in more affluent wards. School visits showed that this discrepancy was attributable primarily to differences in reporting procedures. One third of schools did not report accidents and approximately half did not keep records of minor accidents. The association between school accident report rates and deprivation in the community is complex. School accident data from local education authorities may be unreliable for most purposes of collection.

  2. Development of a bespoke human factors taxonomy for gliding accident analysis and its revelations about highly inexperienced UK glider pilots.

    PubMed

    Jarvis, Steve; Harris, Don

    2009-08-01

    Low-hours solo glider pilots have a high risk of accidents compared to more experienced pilots. Numerous taxonomies for causal accident analysis have been produced for powered aviation but none of these is suitable for gliding, so a new taxonomy was required. A human factors taxonomy specifically for glider operations was developed and used to analyse all UK gliding accidents from 2002 to 2006 for their overall causes as well as factors specific to low hours pilots. Fifty-nine categories of pilot-related accident causation emerged, which were formed into progressively larger categories until four overall human factors groups were arrived at: 'judgement'; 'handling'; 'strategy'; 'attention'. 'Handling' accounted for a significantly higher proportion of injuries than other categories. Inexperienced pilots had considerably more accidents in all categories except 'strategy'. Approach control (path judgement, airbrake and speed handling) as well as landing flare misjudgement were chiefly responsible for the high accident rate in early solo glider pilots.

  3. A comparison of the hazard perception ability of accident-involved and accident-free motorcycle riders.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Andy S K; Ng, Terry C K; Lee, Hoe C

    2011-07-01

    Hazard perception is the ability to read the road and is closely related to involvement in traffic accidents. It consists of both cognitive and behavioral components. Within the cognitive component, visual attention is an important function of driving whereas driving behavior, which represents the behavioral component, can affect the hazard perception of the driver. Motorcycle riders are the most vulnerable types of road user. The primary purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding of the correlation of different subtypes of visual attention and driving violation behaviors and their effect on hazard perception between accident-free and accident-involved motorcycle riders. Sixty-three accident-free and 46 accident-involved motorcycle riders undertook four neuropsychological tests of attention (Digit Vigilance Test, Color Trails Test-1, Color Trails Test-2, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test), filled out the Chinese Motorcycle Rider Driving Violation (CMRDV) Questionnaire, and viewed a road-user-based hazard situation with an eye-tracking system to record the response latencies to potentially dangerous traffic situations. The results showed that both the divided and selective attention of accident-involved motorcycle riders were significantly inferior to those of accident-free motorcycle riders, and that accident-involved riders exhibited significantly higher driving violation behaviors and took longer to identify hazardous situations compared to their accident-free counterparts. However, the results of the regression analysis showed that aggressive driving violation CMRDV score significantly predicted hazard perception and accident involvement of motorcycle riders. Given that all participants were mature and experienced motorcycle riders, the most plausible explanation for the differences between them is their driving style (influenced by an undesirable driving attitude), rather than skill deficits per se. The present study points to the importance of

  4. Computer Code for Transportation Network Design and Analysis

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-01-01

    This document describes the results of research into the application of the mathematical programming technique of decomposition to practical transportation network problems. A computer code called Catnap (for Control Analysis Transportation Network A...

  5. Physician flight accidents.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1966-09-01

    An analysis of physician flight accidents during the period 1964-1965 is presented. More than thirty physicians sustained fatal injuries while piloting light aircraft: a fatality record four times the ratio of physician pilots in the general aviation...

  6. [Violence and accidents among older and younger adults: evidence from the Surveillance System for Violence and Accidents (VIVA), Brazil].

    PubMed

    Luz, Tatiana Chama Borges; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Sá, Naíza Nayla Bandeira de; Silva, Marta Maria Alves da; Lima-Costa, Maria Fernanda

    2011-11-01

    Data from the Brazilian Surveillance System for Violence and Accidents (VIVA) in 2009 were used to examine socio-demographic characteristics, outcomes, and types of accidents and violence treated at 74 sentinel emergency services in 23 Brazilian State capitals and the Federal District. The analysis included 25,201 individuals aged > 20 years (10.1% > 60 years); 89.3% were victims of accidents and 11.9% victims of violence. Hospitalization was the outcome in 11.1% of cases. Compared to the general population, there were more men and non-white individuals among victims of accidents, and especially among victims of violence. As compared to younger adults (20-59 years), accidents and violence against elderly victims showed less association with alcohol, a higher proportion of domestic incidents, more falls and pedestrian accidents, and aggression by family members. Policies for the prevention of accidents and violence should consider the characteristics of these events in the older population.

  7. Secondary school accident reporting in one education authority.

    PubMed

    Williams, W R; Latif, A H A; Sibert, J

    2002-01-01

    Secondary schools appear to have very different accident rates when they are compared on the basis of accident report returns. The variation may be as a result of real differences in accident rates or different reporting procedures. This study investigates accident reporting from secondary schools and, in particular, the role of the school nurse. Accident form returns covering a 2-year period were collected for statistical analysis from 13 comprehensive schools in one local education authority in Wales. School sites were visited in the following school year to obtain information about accident records held on site and accident reporting procedures. The main factors determining the number of school accident reports submitted to the education authority relate to differences in recording and reporting procedures, such as the employment of a nurse and the policy of the head teacher/safety officer on submitting accident returns. Accident and emergency department referrals from similar schools may show significant differences in specific injuries and their causes. The level of school accident activity cannot be gauged from reports submitted to the education authority. Lack of incentives for collecting good accident data, in conjunction with the degree of complacency in the current system, suggest that future accident rates and reporting activity are unlikely to change.

  8. Risk of road accident associated with the use of drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence from epidemiological studies.

    PubMed

    Elvik, Rune

    2013-11-01

    This paper is a corrigendum to a previously published paper where errors were detected. The errors have been corrected in this paper. The paper is otherwise identical to the previously published paper. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that have assessed the risk of accident associated with the use of drugs when driving is presented. The meta-analysis included 66 studies containing a total of 264 estimates of the effects on accident risk of using illicit or prescribed drugs when driving. Summary estimates of the odds ratio of accident involvement are presented for amphetamines, analgesics, anti-asthmatics, anti-depressives, anti-histamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, penicillin and zopiclone (a sleeping pill). For most of the drugs, small or moderate increases in accident risk associated with the use of the drugs were found. Information about whether the drugs were actually used while driving and about the doses used was often imprecise. Most studies that have evaluated the presence of a dose-response relationship between the dose of drugs taken and the effects on accident risk confirm the existence of a dose-response relationship. Use of drugs while driving tends to have a larger effect on the risk of fatal and serious injury accidents than on the risk of less serious accidents (usually property-damage-only accidents). The quality of the studies that have assessed risk varied greatly. There was a tendency for the estimated effects of drug use on accident risk to be smaller in well-controlled studies than in poorly controlled studies. Evidence of publication bias was found for some drugs. The associations found cannot be interpreted as causal relationships, principally because most studies do not control very well for potentially confounding factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Final safety analysis report for the Galileo Mission: Volume 2, Book 2: Accident model document: Appendices

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1988-12-15

    This section of the Accident Model Document (AMD) presents the appendices which describe the various analyses that have been conducted for use in the Galileo Final Safety Analysis Report II, Volume II. Included in these appendices are the approaches, techniques, conditions and assumptions used in the development of the analytical models plus the detailed results of the analyses. Also included in these appendices are summaries of the accidents and their associated probabilities and environment models taken from the Shuttle Data Book (NSTS-08116), plus summaries of the several segments of the recent GPHS safety test program. The information presented in thesemore » appendices is used in Section 3.0 of the AMD to develop the Failure/Abort Sequence Trees (FASTs) and to determine the fuel releases (source terms) resulting from the potential Space Shuttle/IUS accidents throughout the missions.« less

  10. School sports accidents: analysis of causes, modes, and frequencies.

    PubMed

    Kelm, J; Ahlhelm, F; Pape, D; Pitsch, W; Engel, C

    2001-01-01

    About 5% of all school children are seriously injured during physical education every year. Because of its influence on children's attitude toward sports and the economic aspects, an evaluation of causes and medical consequences is necessary. In this study, 213 school sports accidents were investigated. Besides diagnosis, the localization of injuries, as well as the duration of the sick leave were documented. Average age of injured students was 13 years. Most of the injured students blamed themselves for the accident. The most common injuries were sprains, contusions, and fractures. Main reasons for the accidents were faults in basic motion training. Playing soccer and basketball were the most frequent reasons for injuries. The upper extremity was more frequently involved than the lower extremity. Sports physicians and teachers should work out a program outlining the individual needs and capabilities of the injured students to reintegrate them into physical education.

  11. An uncertainty analysis of the hydrogen source term for a station blackout accident in Sequoyah using MELCOR 1.8.5

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gauntt, Randall O.; Bixler, Nathan E.; Wagner, Kenneth Charles

    2014-03-01

    A methodology for using the MELCOR code with the Latin Hypercube Sampling method was developed to estimate uncertainty in various predicted quantities such as hydrogen generation or release of fission products under severe accident conditions. In this case, the emphasis was on estimating the range of hydrogen sources in station blackout conditions in the Sequoyah Ice Condenser plant, taking into account uncertainties in the modeled physics known to affect hydrogen generation. The method uses user-specified likelihood distributions for uncertain model parameters, which may include uncertainties of a stochastic nature, to produce a collection of code calculations, or realizations, characterizing themore » range of possible outcomes. Forty MELCOR code realizations of Sequoyah were conducted that included 10 uncertain parameters, producing a range of in-vessel hydrogen quantities. The range of total hydrogen produced was approximately 583kg 131kg. Sensitivity analyses revealed expected trends with respected to the parameters of greatest importance, however, considerable scatter in results when plotted against any of the uncertain parameters was observed, with no parameter manifesting dominant effects on hydrogen generation. It is concluded that, with respect to the physics parameters investigated, in order to further reduce predicted hydrogen uncertainty, it would be necessary to reduce all physics parameter uncertainties similarly, bearing in mind that some parameters are inherently uncertain within a range. It is suspected that some residual uncertainty associated with modeling complex, coupled and synergistic phenomena, is an inherent aspect of complex systems and cannot be reduced to point value estimates. The probabilistic analyses such as the one demonstrated in this work are important to properly characterize response of complex systems such as severe accident progression in nuclear power plants.« less

  12. Linguistic methodology for the analysis of aviation accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goguen, J. A.; Linde, C.

    1983-01-01

    A linguistic method for the analysis of small group discourse, was developed and the use of this method on transcripts of commercial air transpot accidents is demonstrated. The method identifies the discourse types that occur and determine their linguistic structure; it identifies significant linguistic variables based upon these structures or other linguistic concepts such as speech act and topic; it tests hypotheses that support significance and reliability of these variables; and it indicates the implications of the validated hypotheses. These implications fall into three categories: (1) to train crews to use more nearly optimal communication patterns; (2) to use linguistic variables as indices for aspects of crew performance such as attention; and (3) to provide guidelines for the design of aviation procedures and equipment, especially those that involve speech.

  13. [The characteristics of computer simulation of traffic accidents].

    PubMed

    Zou, Dong-Hua; Liu, Ning-Guo; Chen, Jian-Guo; Jin, Xian-Long; Zhang, Xiao-Yun; Zhang, Jian-Hua; Chen, Yi-Jiu

    2008-12-01

    To reconstruct the collision process of traffic accident and the injury mode of the victim by computer simulation technology in forensic assessment of traffic accident. Forty actual accidents were reconstructed by stimulation software and high performance computer based on analysis of the trace evidences at the scene, damage of the vehicles and injury of the victims, with 2 cases discussed in details. The reconstruction correlated very well in 28 cases, well in 9 cases, and suboptimal in 3 cases with the above parameters. Accurate reconstruction of the accident would be helpful for assessment of the injury mechanism of the victims. Reconstruction of the collision process of traffic accident and the injury mechanism of the victim by computer simulation is useful in traffic accident assessment.

  14. Spectral Analysis of the Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Motor Vehicle Fatal Traffic Accidents

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-04-01

    This report shows that Daylight Saving Time (DST) reduces the number of persons killed in motor vehicle fatal traffic accidents by about one percent. This estimate is based on a spectral (Fourier) analysis of these fatalities which utilizes a filteri...

  15. A Comparative Study on Seismic Analysis of Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) with Other Building Codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bari, Md. S.; Das, T.

    2013-09-01

    Tectonic framework of Bangladesh and adjoining areas indicate that Bangladesh lies well within an active seismic zone. The after effect of earthquake is more severe in an underdeveloped and a densely populated country like ours than any other developed countries. Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) was first established in 1993 to provide guidelines for design and construction of new structure subject to earthquake ground motions in order to minimize the risk to life for all structures. A revision of BNBC 1993 is undergoing to make this up to date with other international building codes. This paper aims at the comparison of various provisions of seismic analysis as given in building codes of different countries. This comparison will give an idea regarding where our country stands when it comes to safety against earth quake. Primarily, various seismic parameters in BNBC 2010 (draft) have been studied and compared with that of BNBC 1993. Later, both 1993 and 2010 edition of BNBC codes have been compared graphically with building codes of other countries such as National Building Code of India 2005 (NBC-India 2005), American Society of Civil Engineering 7-05 (ASCE 7-05). The base shear/weight ratios have been plotted against the height of the building. The investigation in this paper reveals that BNBC 1993 has the least base shear among all the codes. Factored Base shear values of BNBC 2010 are found to have increased significantly than that of BNBC 1993 for low rise buildings (≤20 m) around the country than its predecessor. Despite revision of the code, BNBC 2010 (draft) still suggests less base shear values when compared to the Indian and American code. Therefore, this increase in factor of safety against the earthquake imposed by the proposed BNBC 2010 code by suggesting higher values of base shear is appreciable.

  16. A Look at Aircraft Accident Analysis in the Early Days: Do Early 20th Century Accident Investigation Techniques Have Any Lessons for Today?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holloway, C. M.; Johnson, C. W.

    2007-01-01

    In the early years of powered flight, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics in the United States produced three reports describing a method of analysis of aircraft accidents. The first report was published in 1928; the second, which was a revision of the first, was published in 1930; and the third, which was a revision and update of the second, was published in 1936. This paper describes the contents of these reports, and compares the method of analysis proposed therein to the methods used today.

  17. Analysis on tank truck accidents involved in road hazardous materials transportation in china.

    PubMed

    Shen, Xiaoyan; Yan, Ying; Li, Xiaonan; Xie, Chenjiang; Wang, Lihua

    2014-01-01

    Due to the sheer size and capacity of the tanker and the properties of cargo transported in the tank, hazmat tanker accidents are more disastrous than other types of vehicle accidents. The aim of this study was to provide a current survey on the situation of accidents involving tankers transporting hazardous materials in China. Detailed descriptions of 708 tanker accidents associated with hazmat transportation in China from 2004 to 2011 were analyzed to identify causes, location, types, time of occurrence, hazard class for materials involved, consequences, and the corresponding probability. Hazmat tanker accidents mainly occurred in eastern (38.1%) and southwest China (12.3%). The most frequent hazmat tanker accidents involved classes 2, 3, and 8. The predominant accident types were rollover (29.10%), run-off-the-road (16.67%), and rear-end collisions (13.28%), with a high likelihood of a large spill occurring. About 55.93% of the accidents occurred on freeways and class 1 roads, with the spill percentage reaching 75.00% and the proportion of spills that occurred in the total accidents amounting to 77.82%, of which 61.72% are considered large spills. The month with the highest accident probability was July (12.29%), and most crashes occurred during the early morning (4:00-6:00 a.m.) and midday (10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.) hours, 19.63% versus 16.10%. Human-related errors (73.8%) and vehicle-related defects (19.6%) were the primary reasons for hazmat tanker crashes. The most common outcomes of a hazmat tanker accident was a spill without further events (55.51%), followed by a release with fire (7.77%), and release with an explosion (2.54%). The safety situation of China's hazmat tanker transportation is grim. Such accidents not only have high spill percentages and consistently large spills but they can also cause serious consequences, such as fires and explosions. Improving the training of drivers and the quality of vehicles, deploying roll stability aids, enhancing

  18. TAIR- TRANSONIC AIRFOIL ANALYSIS COMPUTER CODE

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dougherty, F. C.

    1994-01-01

    The Transonic Airfoil analysis computer code, TAIR, was developed to employ a fast, fully implicit algorithm to solve the conservative full-potential equation for the steady transonic flow field about an arbitrary airfoil immersed in a subsonic free stream. The full-potential formulation is considered exact under the assumptions of irrotational, isentropic, and inviscid flow. These assumptions are valid for a wide range of practical transonic flows typical of modern aircraft cruise conditions. The primary features of TAIR include: a new fully implicit iteration scheme which is typically many times faster than classical successive line overrelaxation algorithms; a new, reliable artifical density spatial differencing scheme treating the conservative form of the full-potential equation; and a numerical mapping procedure capable of generating curvilinear, body-fitted finite-difference grids about arbitrary airfoil geometries. Three aspects emphasized during the development of the TAIR code were reliability, simplicity, and speed. The reliability of TAIR comes from two sources: the new algorithm employed and the implementation of effective convergence monitoring logic. TAIR achieves ease of use by employing a "default mode" that greatly simplifies code operation, especially by inexperienced users, and many useful options including: several airfoil-geometry input options, flexible user controls over program output, and a multiple solution capability. The speed of the TAIR code is attributed to the new algorithm and the manner in which it has been implemented. Input to the TAIR program consists of airfoil coordinates, aerodynamic and flow-field convergence parameters, and geometric and grid convergence parameters. The airfoil coordinates for many airfoil shapes can be generated in TAIR from just a few input parameters. Most of the other input parameters have default values which allow the user to run an analysis in the default mode by specifing only a few input parameters

  19. Verification of a Viscous Computational Aeroacoustics Code using External Verification Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ingraham, Daniel; Hixon, Ray

    2015-01-01

    The External Verification Analysis approach to code verification is extended to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with constant properties, and is used to verify a high-order computational aeroacoustics (CAA) code. After a brief review of the relevant literature, the details of the EVA approach are presented and compared to the similar Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS). Pseudocode representations of EVA's algorithms are included, along with the recurrence relations needed to construct the EVA solution. The code verification results show that EVA was able to convincingly verify a high-order, viscous CAA code without the addition of MMS-style source terms, or any other modifications to the code.

  20. Verification of a Viscous Computational Aeroacoustics Code Using External Verification Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ingraham, Daniel; Hixon, Ray

    2015-01-01

    The External Verification Analysis approach to code verification is extended to solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with constant properties, and is used to verify a high-order computational aeroacoustics (CAA) code. After a brief review of the relevant literature, the details of the EVA approach are presented and compared to the similar Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS). Pseudocode representations of EVA's algorithms are included, along with the recurrence relations needed to construct the EVA solution. The code verification results show that EVA was able to convincingly verify a high-order, viscous CAA code without the addition of MMS-style source terms, or any other modifications to the code.

  1. Primary school accident reporting in one education authority

    PubMed Central

    Latif, A; Williams, W; Sibert, J

    2002-01-01

    Background: Studies have shown a correlation between increased accident rates and levels of deprivation in the community. School accident reporting is one area where an association might be expected. Aims: To investigate differences in primary school accident rates in deprived and more affluent wards, in an area managed by one education authority. Methods: Statistical analysis of accident form returns for 100 primary schools in one education authority in Wales over a two year period, in conjunction with visits to over one third of school sites. Results: Accident report rates from schools in deprived wards were three times higher than those from schools in more affluent wards. School visits showed that this discrepancy was attributable primarily to differences in reporting procedures. One third of schools did not report accidents and approximately half did not keep records of minor accidents. Conclusions: The association between school accident report rates and deprivation in the community is complex. School accident data from local education authorities may be unreliable for most purposes of collection. PMID:11827900

  2. Circuit board accident--organizational dimension hidden by prescribed safety.

    PubMed

    de Almeida, Ildeberto Muniz; Buoso, Eduardo; do Amaral Dias, Maria Dionísia; Vilela, Rodolfo Andrade Gouveia

    2012-01-01

    This study analyzes an accident in which two maintenance workers suffered severe burns while replacing a circuit breaker panel in a steel mill, following model of analysis and prevention of accidents (MAPA) developed with the objective of enlarging the perimeter of interventions and contributing to deconstruction of blame attribution practices. The study was based on materials produced by a health service team in an in-depth analysis of the accident. The analysis shows that decisions related to system modernization were taken without considering their implications in maintenance scheduling and creating conflicts of priorities and of interests between production and safety; and also reveals that the lack of a systemic perspective in safety management was its principal failure. To explain the accident as merely non-fulfillment of idealized formal safety rules feeds practices of blame attribution supported by alibi norms and inhibits possible prevention. In contrast, accident analyses undertaken in worker health surveillance services show potential to reveal origins of these events incubated in the history of the system ignored in practices guided by the traditional paradigm.

  3. Sandia Engineering Analysis Code Access System v. 2.0.1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sjaardema, Gregory D.

    The Sandia Engineering Analysis Code Access System (SEACAS) is a suite of preprocessing, post processing, translation, visualization, and utility applications supporting finite element analysis software using the Exodus database file format.

  4. Performance analysis of a cascaded coding scheme with interleaved outer code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, S.

    1986-01-01

    A cascaded coding scheme for a random error channel with a bit-error rate is analyzed. In this scheme, the inner code C sub 1 is an (n sub 1, m sub 1l) binary linear block code which is designed for simultaneous error correction and detection. The outer code C sub 2 is a linear block code with symbols from the Galois field GF (2 sup l) which is designed for correcting both symbol errors and erasures, and is interleaved with a degree m sub 1. A procedure for computing the probability of a correct decoding is presented and an upper bound on the probability of a decoding error is derived. The bound provides much better results than the previous bound for a cascaded coding scheme with an interleaved outer code. Example schemes with inner codes ranging from high rates to very low rates are evaluated. Several schemes provide extremely high reliability even for very high bit-error rates say 10 to the -1 to 10 to the -2 power.

  5. Comparison of two computer codes for crack growth analysis: NASCRAC Versus NASA/FLAGRO

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stallworth, R.; Meyers, C. A.; Stinson, H. C.

    1989-01-01

    Results are presented from the comparison study of two computer codes for crack growth analysis - NASCRAC and NASA/FLAGRO. The two computer codes gave compatible conservative results when the part through crack analysis solutions were analyzed versus experimental test data. Results showed good correlation between the codes for the through crack at a lug solution. For the through crack at a lug solution, NASA/FLAGRO gave the most conservative results.

  6. GRC Payload Hazard Assessment: Supporting the STS-107 Accident Investigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schoren, William R.; Zampino, Edward J.

    2004-01-01

    A hazard assessment was conducted on the GRC managed payloads in support of a NASA Headquarters Code Q request to examine STS-107 payloads and determine if they were credible contributors to the Columbia accident. This assessment utilized each payload's Final Flight Safety Data Package for hazard identification. An applicability assessment was performed and most of the hazards were eliminated because they dealt with payload operations or crew interactions. A Fault Tree was developed for all the hazards deemed applicable and the safety verification documentation was reviewed for these applicable hazards. At the completion of this hazard assessment, it was concluded that none of the GRC managed payloads were credible contributors to the Columbia accident.

  7. ATWS at Browns Ferry Unit One - accident sequence analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Harrington, R.M.; Hodge, S.A.

    1984-07-01

    This study describes the predicted response of Unit One at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to a postulated complete failure to scram following a transient occurrence that has caused closure of all Main Steam Isolation Valves (MSIVs). This hypothetical event constitutes the most severe example of the type of accident classified as Anticipated Transient Without Scram (ATWS). Without the automatic control rod insertion provided by scram, the void coefficient of reactivity and the mechanisms by which voids are formed in the moderator/coolant play a dominant role in the progression of the accident. Actions taken by the operator greatly influence themore » quantity of voids in the coolant and the effect is analyzed in this report. The progression of the accident sequence under existing and under recommended procedures is discussed. For the extremely unlikely cases in which equipment failure and wrongful operator actions might lead to severe core damage, the sequence of emergency action levels and the associated timing of events are presented.« less

  8. Methodological guidelines for developing accident modification functions.

    PubMed

    Elvik, Rune

    2015-07-01

    This paper proposes methodological guidelines for developing accident modification functions. An accident modification function is a mathematical function describing systematic variation in the effects of road safety measures. The paper describes ten guidelines. An example is given of how to use the guidelines. The importance of exploratory analysis and an iterative approach in developing accident modification functions is stressed. The example shows that strict compliance with all the guidelines may be difficult, but represents a level of stringency that should be strived for. Currently the main limitations in developing accident modification functions are the small number of good evaluation studies and the often huge variation in estimates of effect. It is therefore still not possible to develop accident modification functions for very many road safety measures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Paralysis from sport and diving accidents.

    PubMed

    Schmitt, H; Gerner, H J

    2001-01-01

    To examine the causes of sport-related spinal cord injuries that developed into paraplegia or tetraplegia, and to compare data from different sports with previous studies in the same geographical region. A retrospective epidemiological study and comparison with previous studies. The Orthopedic Department, specializing in the treatment and rehabilitation of paralyzed patients, at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Between 1985 and 1997, 1,016 cases of traumatic spinal cord injury presented at the Orthopedic Department at the University of Heidelberg: 6.8% were caused by sport and 7.7% by diving accidents. Sport-related spinal cord injuries with paralysis. A total of 1.016 cases of traumatic spinal cord injury were reviewed. Of these, 14.5% were caused by sport accidents (n = 69) or diving accidents (n = 78). Age of patients ranged from 9 to 52 years. 83% were male. 77% of the patients developed tetraplegia, and 23%, paraplegia. 16 of the sport accidents resulted from downhill skiing, 9 resulted from horseback riding, 7 from modern air sports, 6 from gymnastics, 5 from trampolining, and 26 from other sports. Previous analyses had revealed that paraplegia had mainly occurred from gymnastics, trampolining, or high diving accidents. More recently, however, the number of serious spinal injuries caused by risk-filled sports such as hang gliding and paragliding has significantly increased (p = 0.095), as it has for horseback riding and skiing. Examinations have shown that all patients who were involved in diving accidents developed tetraplegia. An analysis of injury from specific sports is still under way. Analysis of accidents resulting in damage to the spinal cord in respect to different sports shows that sports that have become popular during the last 10 years show an increasing risk of injury. Modern air sports hold the most injuries. Injury-preventing strategies also are presented.

  10. Space shuttle main engine numerical modeling code modifications and analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ziebarth, John P.

    1988-01-01

    The user of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes must be concerned with the accuracy and efficiency of the codes if they are to be used for timely design and analysis of complicated three-dimensional fluid flow configurations. A brief discussion of how accuracy and efficiency effect the CFD solution process is given. A more detailed discussion of how efficiency can be enhanced by using a few Cray Research Inc. utilities to address vectorization is presented and these utilities are applied to a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes CFD code (INS3D).

  11. Type A Accident Investigation Board report on the January 17, 1996, electrical accident with injury in Technical Area 21 Tritium Science and Fabrication Facility Los Alamos National Laboratory. Final report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1996-04-01

    An electrical accident was investigated in which a crafts person received serious injuries as a result of coming into contact with a 13.2 kilovolt (kV) electrical cable in the basement of Building 209 in Technical Area 21 (TA-21-209) in the Tritium Science and Fabrication Facility (TSFF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In conducting its investigation, the Accident Investigation Board used various analytical techniques, including events and causal factor analysis, barrier analysis, change analysis, fault tree analysis, materials analysis, and root cause analysis. The board inspected the accident site, reviewed events surrounding the accident, conducted extensive interviews and document reviews,more » and performed causation analyses to determine the factors that contributed to the accident, including any management system deficiencies. Relevant management systems and factors that could have contributed to the accident were evaluated in accordance with the guiding principles of safety management identified by the Secretary of Energy in an October 1994 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and subsequently to Congress.« less

  12. Accident models for two-lane rural roads : segments and intersections

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1998-10-01

    This report is a direct step for the implementation of the Accident Analysis Module in the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM). The Accident Analysis Module is expected to estimate the safety of two-lane rural highway characteristics for ...

  13. Methodology, status, and plans for development and assessment of the RELAP5 code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Johnson, G.W.; Riemke, R.A.

    1997-07-01

    RELAP/MOD3 is a computer code used for the simulation of transients and accidents in light-water nuclear power plants. The objective of the program to develop and maintain RELAP5 was and is to provide the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission with an independent tool for assessing reactor safety. This paper describes code requirements, models, solution scheme, language and structure, user interface validation, and documentation. The paper also describes the current and near term development program and provides an assessment of the code`s strengths and limitations.

  14. Final report on the analyses of traffic accidents : Fast-Trac--phase 3, deliverable. Semi-annual reports on total accidents : trends, types and analysis of before and after studies

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1996-12-01

    This report contains the results of an analysis of : traffic accidents in the City of Troy, Michigan, where : the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System : (SCATS) was deployed as part of a federal demonstration : program. The analyses includes a ...

  15. ANNA: A Convolutional Neural Network Code for Spectroscopic Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee-Brown, Donald; Anthony-Twarog, Barbara J.; Twarog, Bruce A.

    2018-01-01

    We present ANNA, a Python-based convolutional neural network code for the automated analysis of stellar spectra. ANNA provides a flexible framework that allows atmospheric parameters such as temperature and metallicity to be determined with accuracies comparable to those of established but less efficient techniques. ANNA performs its parameterization extremely quickly; typically several thousand spectra can be analyzed in less than a second. Additionally, the code incorporates features which greatly speed up the training process necessary for the neural network to measure spectra accurately, resulting in a tool that can easily be run on a single desktop or laptop computer. Thus, ANNA is useful in an era when spectrographs increasingly have the capability to collect dozens to hundreds of spectra each night. This talk will cover the basic features included in ANNA and demonstrate its performance in two use cases: an open cluster abundance analysis involving several hundred spectra, and a metal-rich field star study. Applicability of the code to large survey datasets will also be discussed.

  16. Development of multivariate exposure and fatal accident involvement rates for 1977

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1985-10-01

    The need for multivariate accident involvement rates is often encounted in : accident analysis. The FARS (Fatal Accident Reporting System) files contain : records of fatal involvements characterized by many variables while NPTS : (National Personal T...

  17. [Automobile Traffic Accident Death Case Analysis of Characteristics of Driver Injury].

    PubMed

    Du, Y L; Zhang, W L

    2017-02-01

    To distinguish the injury characteristic changes on the drivers between the injuries of drivers and passengers in traffic accidents, and to provide scientific evidence for confirming the identity of driver in traffic accidents. Data of 126 automobile traffic accident death cases in the reclamation areas of Heilongjiang province from 2006-2014 were retrospectively studied. The injury characteristics on the drivers of automobile traffic accident death cases were analyzed and the forensic identification problem in the injuries of drivers and passengers were discussed. Injuries were frequently observed on driver's neck, chest and abdomen. The characteristic injuries caused by auto parts were also found, which appeared at the places of passenger's head, face and limbs contacted with automobile. Such characteristic injuries were not found at other places. The location and type of injury are associated with the identity of the deceased. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine

  18. Sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing in truck drivers : risk analysis of road accidents.

    PubMed

    Catarino, Rosa; Spratley, Jorge; Catarino, Isabel; Lunet, Nuno; Pais-Clemente, Manuel

    2014-03-01

    Portugal has one of the highest road traffic fatality rates in Europe. A clear association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and traffic accidents has been previously demonstrated. This study aimed to determine prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and other sleep disorder symptoms among truck drivers and to identify which individual traits and work habits are associated to increased sleepiness and accident risk. We evaluated a sample of 714 truck drivers using a questionnaire (244 face-to-face interviews, 470 self-administered) that included sociodemographic data, personal habits, previous accidents, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Berlin questionnaire (BQ). Twenty percent of drivers had EDS and 29 % were at high risk for having obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Two hundred sixty-one drivers (36.6 %) reported near-miss accidents (42.5 % sleep related) and 264 (37.0 %), a driving accident (16.3 % sleep related). ESS score ≥ 11 was a risk factor for both near-miss accidents (odds ratio (OR)=3.84, p<0.01) and accidents (OR=2.25, p<0.01). Antidepressant use was related to accidents (OR=3.30, p=0.03). We found an association between high Mallampati score (III-IV) and near misses (OR=1.89, p=0.04). In this sample of Portuguese truck drivers, we observed a high prevalence of EDS and other sleep disorder symptoms. Accident risk was related to sleepiness and antidepressant use. Identifying drivers at risk for OSAS should be a major priority of medical assessment centers, as a public safety policy.

  19. Seismic Analysis Code (SAC): Development, porting, and maintenance within a legacy code base

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Savage, B.; Snoke, J. A.

    2017-12-01

    The Seismic Analysis Code (SAC) is the result of toil of many developers over almost a 40-year history. Initially a Fortran-based code, it has undergone major transitions in underlying bit size from 16 to 32, in the 1980s, and 32 to 64 in 2009; as well as a change in language from Fortran to C in the late 1990s. Maintenance of SAC, the program and its associated libraries, have tracked changes in hardware and operating systems including the advent of Linux in the early 1990, the emergence and demise of Sun/Solaris, variants of OSX processors (PowerPC and x86), and Windows (Cygwin). Traces of these systems are still visible in source code and associated comments. A major concern while improving and maintaining a routinely used, legacy code is a fear of introducing bugs or inadvertently removing favorite features of long-time users. Prior to 2004, SAC was maintained and distributed by LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Lab). In that year, the license was transferred from LLNL to IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology), but the license is not open source. However, there have been thousands of downloads a year of the package, either source code or binaries for specific system. Starting in 2004, the co-authors have maintained the SAC package for IRIS. In our updates, we fixed bugs, incorporated newly introduced seismic analysis procedures (such as EVALRESP), added new, accessible features (plotting and parsing), and improved the documentation (now in HTML and PDF formats). Moreover, we have added modern software engineering practices to the development of SAC including use of recent source control systems, high-level tests, and scripted, virtualized environments for rapid testing and building. Finally, a "sac-help" listserv (administered by IRIS) was setup for SAC-related issues and is the primary avenue for users seeking advice and reporting bugs. Attempts are always made to respond to issues and bugs in a timely fashion. For the past thirty-plus years

  20. Modelling of LOCA Tests with the BISON Fuel Performance Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Williamson, Richard L; Pastore, Giovanni; Novascone, Stephen Rhead

    2016-05-01

    BISON is a modern finite-element based, multidimensional nuclear fuel performance code that is under development at Idaho National Laboratory (USA). Recent advances of BISON include the extension of the code to the analysis of LWR fuel rod behaviour during loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs). In this work, BISON models for the phenomena relevant to LWR cladding behaviour during LOCAs are described, followed by presentation of code results for the simulation of LOCA tests. Analysed experiments include separate effects tests of cladding ballooning and burst, as well as the Halden IFA-650.2 fuel rod test. Two-dimensional modelling of the experiments is performed, and calculationsmore » are compared to available experimental data. Comparisons include cladding burst pressure and temperature in separate effects tests, as well as the evolution of fuel rod inner pressure during ballooning and time to cladding burst. Furthermore, BISON three-dimensional simulations of separate effects tests are performed, which demonstrate the capability to reproduce the effect of azimuthal temperature variations in the cladding. The work has been carried out in the frame of the collaboration between Idaho National Laboratory and Halden Reactor Project, and the IAEA Coordinated Research Project FUMAC.« less

  1. Investigations on optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident in a VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tusheva, P.; Schaefer, F.; Kliem, S.

    2012-07-01

    The reactor safety issues are of primary importance for preserving the health of the population and ensuring no release of radioactivity and fission products into the environment. A part of the nuclear research focuses on improvement of the safety of existing nuclear power plants. Studies, research and efforts are a continuing process at improving the safety and reliability of existing and newly developed nuclear power plants at prevention of a core melt accident. Station blackout (loss of AC power supply) is one of the dominant accidents taken into consideration at performing accident analysis. In case of multiple failures of safetymore » systems it leads to a severe accident. To prevent an accident to turn into a severe one or to mitigate the consequences, accident management measures must be performed. The present paper outlines possibilities for application and optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident. Assessed is the behaviour of the nuclear power plant during a station blackout accident without accident management measures and with application of primary/secondary side oriented accident management measures. Discussed are the possibilities for operators ' intervention and the influence of the performed accident management measures on the course of the accident. Special attention has been paid to the effectiveness of the passive feeding and physical phenomena having an influence on the system behaviour. The performed simulations show that the effectiveness of the secondary side feeding procedure can be limited due to an early evaporation or flashing effects in the feed water system. The analyzed cases show that the effectiveness of the accident management measures strongly depends on the initiation criteria applied for depressurization of the reactor coolant system. (authors)« less

  2. Offsite Radiological Consequence Analysis for the Bounding Flammable Gas Accident

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    CARRO, C.A.

    2003-07-30

    This document quantifies the offsite radiological consequences of the bounding flammable gas accident for comparison with the 25 rem Evaluation Guideline established in DOE-STD-3009, Appendix A. The bounding flammable gas accident is a detonation in a single-shell tank The calculation applies reasonably conservation input parameters in accordance with DOE-STD-3009, Appendix A, guidance. Revision 1 incorporates comments received from Office of River Protection.

  3. Acceptable Risk Analysis for Abrupt Environmental Pollution Accidents in Zhangjiakou City, China.

    PubMed

    Du, Xi; Zhang, Zhijiao; Dong, Lei; Liu, Jing; Borthwick, Alistair G L; Liu, Renzhi

    2017-04-20

    Abrupt environmental pollution accidents cause considerable damage worldwide to the ecological environment, human health, and property. The concept of acceptable risk aims to answer whether or not a given environmental pollution risk exceeds a societally determined criterion. This paper presents a case study on acceptable environmental pollution risk conducted through a questionnaire survey carried out between August and October 2014 in five representative districts and two counties of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China. Here, environmental risk primarily arises from accidental water pollution, accidental air pollution, and tailings dam failure. Based on 870 valid questionnaires, demographic and regional differences in public attitudes towards abrupt environmental pollution risks were analyzed, and risk acceptance impact factors determined. The results showed females, people between 21-40 years of age, people with higher levels of education, public servants, and people with higher income had lower risk tolerance. People with lower perceived risk, low-level risk knowledge, high-level familiarity and satisfaction with environmental management, and without experience of environmental accidents had higher risk tolerance. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that public satisfaction with environmental management was the most significant factor in risk acceptance, followed by perceived risk of abrupt air pollution, occupation, perceived risk of tailings dam failure, and sex. These findings should be helpful to local decision-makers concerned with environmental risk management (e.g., selecting target groups for effective risk communication) in the context of abrupt environmental accidents.

  4. Acceptable Risk Analysis for Abrupt Environmental Pollution Accidents in Zhangjiakou City, China

    PubMed Central

    Du, Xi; Zhang, Zhijiao; Dong, Lei; Liu, Jing; Borthwick, Alistair G. L.; Liu, Renzhi

    2017-01-01

    Abrupt environmental pollution accidents cause considerable damage worldwide to the ecological environment, human health, and property. The concept of acceptable risk aims to answer whether or not a given environmental pollution risk exceeds a societally determined criterion. This paper presents a case study on acceptable environmental pollution risk conducted through a questionnaire survey carried out between August and October 2014 in five representative districts and two counties of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China. Here, environmental risk primarily arises from accidental water pollution, accidental air pollution, and tailings dam failure. Based on 870 valid questionnaires, demographic and regional differences in public attitudes towards abrupt environmental pollution risks were analyzed, and risk acceptance impact factors determined. The results showed females, people between 21–40 years of age, people with higher levels of education, public servants, and people with higher income had lower risk tolerance. People with lower perceived risk, low-level risk knowledge, high-level familiarity and satisfaction with environmental management, and without experience of environmental accidents had higher risk tolerance. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that public satisfaction with environmental management was the most significant factor in risk acceptance, followed by perceived risk of abrupt air pollution, occupation, perceived risk of tailings dam failure, and sex. These findings should be helpful to local decision-makers concerned with environmental risk management (e.g., selecting target groups for effective risk communication) in the context of abrupt environmental accidents. PMID:28425956

  5. Analysis of Incident and Accident Reports and Risk Management in Spine Surgery.

    PubMed

    Kobayashi, Kazuyoshi; Imagama, Shiro; Ando, Kei; Hida, Tetsuro; Ito, Kenyu; Tsushima, Mikito; Ishikawa, Yoshimoto; Matsumoto, Akiyuki; Morozumi, Masayoshi; Nishida, Yoshihiro; Nagao, Yoshimasa; Ishiguro, Naoki

    2017-08-01

    A review of accident and incident reports. To analyze prevalence, characteristics, and details of perioperative incidents and accidents in patients receiving spine surgery. In our institution, a clinical error that potentially results in an adverse event is usually submitted as an incident or accident report through a web database, to ensure anonymous and blame-free reporting. All reports are analyzed by a medical safety management group. These reports contain valuable data for management of medical safety, but there have been no studies evaluating such data for spine surgery. A total of 320 incidents and accidents that occurred perioperatively in 172 of 415 spine surgeries were included in the study. Incidents were defined as events that were "problematic, but with no damage to the patient," and accidents as events "with damage to the patient." The details of these events were analyzed. There were 278 incidents in 137 surgeries and 42 accidents in 35 surgeries, giving prevalence of 33% (137/415) and 8% (35/415), respectively. The proportion of accidents among all events was significantly higher for doctors than non-doctors [68.0% (17/25) vs. 8.5% (25/295), P < 0.01] and in the operating room compared with outside the operating room [40.5% (15/37) vs. 9.5% (27/283), P < 0.01]. There was no significant difference in years of experience among personnel involved in all events. The major types of events were medication-related, line and tube problems, and falls and slips. Accidents also occurred because of a long-term prone position, with complications such as laryngeal edema, ulnar nerve palsy, and tooth damage. Surgery and procedures in the operating room always have a risk of complications. Therefore, a particular effort is needed to establish safe management of this environment and to provide advice on risk to the doctor and medical care team. 4.

  6. Final report on accident tolerant fuel performance analysis of APMT-Steel Clad/UO₂ fuel and APMT-Steel Clad/UN-U₃Si₅ fuel concepts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Unal, Cetin; Galloway, Jack D.

    2014-09-12

    In FY2014 our group completed and documented analysis of new Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) concepts using BISON. We have modeled the viability of moving from Zircaloy to stainless steel cladding in traditional light water reactors (LWRs). We have explored the reactivity penalty of this change using the MCNP-based burnup code Monteburns, while attempting to minimize this penalty by increasing the fuel pellet radius and decreasing the cladding thickness. Fuel performance simulations using BISON have also been performed to quantify changes to structural integrity resulting from thinner stainless steel claddings. We account for thermal and irradiation creep, fission gas swelling, thermalmore » swelling and fuel relocation in the models for both Zircaloy and stainless steel claddings. Additional models that account for the lower oxidation stainless steel APMT are also invoked where available. Irradiation data for HT9 is used as a fallback in the absence of appropriate models. In this study the isotopic vectors within each natural element are varied to assess potential reactivity gains if advanced enrichment capabilities were levied towards cladding technologies. Recommendations on cladding thicknesses for a robust cladding as well as the constitutive components of a less penalizing composition are provided. In the first section (section 1-3), we present results accepted for publication in the 2014 TOPFUEL conference regarding the APMT/UO₂ ATF concept (J. Galloway & C. Unal, Accident Tolerant and Neutronically Favorable LWR Cladding, Proceedings of WRFPM 2014, Sendai, Japan, Paper No.1000050). Next we discuss our preliminary findings from the thermo-mechanical analysis of UN-U₃Si₅ fuel with APMT clad. In this analysis we used models developed from limited data that need to be updated when the irradiation data from ATF-1 test is available. Initial results indicate a swelling rate less than 1.5% is needed to prevent excessive clad stress.« less

  7. Comparative analysis of the countermeasures taken to mitigate exposure of the public to radioiodine following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents: lessons from both accidents.

    PubMed

    Uyba, Vladimir; Samoylov, Alexander; Shinkarev, Sergey

    2018-04-01

    In the case of a severe radiation accident at a nuclear power station, the most important radiation hazard for the public is internal exposure of the thyroid to radioiodine. The purposes of this paper were (i) to compare countermeasures conducted (following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents) aimed at mitigation of exposure to the thyroid for the public, (ii) to present comparative estimates of doses to the thyroid and (iii) to derive lessons from the two accidents. The scale and time of countermeasures applied in the early phase of the accidents (sheltering, evacuation, and intake of stable iodine to block the thyroid) and at a later time (control of 131I concentration in foodstuffs) have been described. After the Chernobyl accident, the estimation of the thyroid doses for the public was mainly based on direct thyroid measurements of ~400 000 residents carried out within the first 2 months. The highest estimates of thyroid doses to children reached 50 Gy. After the Fukushima accident, the estimation of thyroid doses was based on radioecological models due to a lack of direct thyroid measurements (only slightly more than 1000 residents were measured). The highest estimates of thyroid doses to children were a few hundred mGy. Following the Chernobyl accident, ingestion of 131I through cows' milk was the dominant pathway. Following the Fukushima accident, it appears that inhalation of contaminated air was the dominant pathway. Some lessons learned following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents have been presented in this paper.

  8. Study of Benefits of Passenger Protective Breathing Equipment from Analysis of Past Accidents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-03-01

    Rodeos (Tenerife) El 27 De Marzo De 1977 2. ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest No. 23, No. 2 B-30 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT SUMMARY Carrier - Continental Airways...than FPL. However, a I’)-second donning de -lay of PBE may have resulted in a net disbenefit. k~f ¶ ~ 17. Key Words 18. Distributiion Stotement...in C-133 Test Article 23 with Postcrash Fire Conditions 5 Accident Profiles for 3/5/67 Varig DC-8 24 6 Accident Profiles for 4/8/68 British Overseas

  9. SOARCA Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Long-Term Station Blackout Uncertainty Analysis: Knowledge Advancement.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gauntt, Randall O.; Mattie, Patrick D.; Bixler, Nathan E.

    2014-02-01

    This paper describes the knowledge advancements from the uncertainty analysis for the State-of- the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) unmitigated long-term station blackout accident scenario at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. This work assessed key MELCOR and MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System, Version 2 (MACCS2) modeling uncertainties in an integrated fashion to quantify the relative importance of each uncertain input on potential accident progression, radiological releases, and off-site consequences. This quantitative uncertainty analysis provides measures of the effects on consequences, of each of the selected uncertain parameters both individually and in interaction with other parameters. The results measure the modelmore » response (e.g., variance in the output) to uncertainty in the selected input. Investigation into the important uncertain parameters in turn yields insights into important phenomena for accident progression and off-site consequences. This uncertainty analysis confirmed the known importance of some parameters, such as failure rate of the Safety Relief Valve in accident progression modeling and the dry deposition velocity in off-site consequence modeling. The analysis also revealed some new insights, such as dependent effect of cesium chemical form for different accident progressions. (auth)« less

  10. The Fukushima radiation accident: consequences for radiation accident medical management.

    PubMed

    Meineke, Viktor; Dörr, Harald

    2012-08-01

    The March 2011 radiation accident in Fukushima, Japan, is a textbook example of a radiation accident of global significance. In view of the global dimensions of the accident, it is important to consider the lessons learned. In this context, emphasis must be placed on consequences for planning appropriate medical management for radiation accidents including, for example, estimates of necessary human and material resources. The specific characteristics of the radiation accident in Fukushima are thematically divided into five groups: the exceptional environmental influences on the Fukushima radiation accident, particular circumstances of the accident, differences in risk perception, changed psychosocial factors in the age of the Internet and globalization, and the ignorance of the effects of ionizing radiation both among the general public and health care professionals. Conclusions like the need for reviewing international communication, interfacing, and interface definitions will be drawn from the Fukushima radiation accident.

  11. The effects of aircraft certification rules on general aviation accidents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderson, Carolina Lenz

    The purpose of this study was to analyze the frequency of general aviation airplane accidents and accident rates on the basis of aircraft certification to determine whether or not differences in aircraft certification rules had an influence on accidents. In addition, the narrative cause descriptions contained within the accident reports were analyzed to determine whether there were differences in the qualitative data for the different certification categories. The certification categories examined were: Federal Aviation Regulations Part 23, Civil Air Regulations 3, Light Sport Aircraft, and Experimental-Amateur Built. The accident causes examined were those classified as: Loss of Control, Controlled Flight into Terrain, Engine Failure, and Structural Failure. Airworthiness certification categories represent a wide diversity of government oversight. Part 23 rules have evolved from the initial set of simpler design standards and have progressed into a comprehensive and strict set of rules to address the safety issues of the more complex airplanes within the category. Experimental-Amateur Built airplanes have the least amount of government oversight and are the fastest growing segment. The Light Sport Aircraft category is a more recent certification category that utilizes consensus standards in the approval process. Civil Air Regulations 3 airplanes were designed and manufactured under simpler rules but modifying these airplanes has become lengthy and expensive. The study was conducted using a mixed methods methodology which involves both quantitative and qualitative elements. A Chi-Square test was used for a quantitative analysis of the accident frequency among aircraft certification categories. Accident rate analysis of the accidents among aircraft certification categories involved an ANCOVA test. The qualitative component involved the use of text mining techniques for the analysis of the narrative cause descriptions contained within the accident reports. The Chi

  12. Color Coding of Circuit Quantities in Introductory Circuit Analysis Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reisslein, Jana; Johnson, Amy M.; Reisslein, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Learning the analysis of electrical circuits represented by circuit diagrams is often challenging for novice students. An open research question in electrical circuit analysis instruction is whether color coding of the mathematical symbols (variables) that denote electrical quantities can improve circuit analysis learning. The present study…

  13. LACEwING: A New Moving Group Analysis Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Riedel, Adric R.; Blunt, Sarah C.; Faherty, Jacqueline K.

    We present a new nearby young moving group (NYMG) kinematic membership analysis code, LocAting Constituent mEmbers In Nearby Groups (LACEwING), a new Catalog of Suspected Nearby Young Stars, a new list of bona fide members of moving groups, and a kinematic traceback code. LACEwING is a convergence-style algorithm with carefully vetted membership statistics based on a large numerical simulation of the Solar Neighborhood. Given spatial and kinematic information on stars, LACEwING calculates membership probabilities in 13 NYMGs and three open clusters within 100 pc. In addition to describing the inputs, methods, and products of the code, we provide comparisons ofmore » LACEwING to other popular kinematic moving group membership identification codes. As a proof of concept, we use LACEwING to reconsider the membership of 930 stellar systems in the Solar Neighborhood (within 100 pc) that have reported measurable lithium equivalent widths. We quantify the evidence in support of a population of young stars not attached to any NYMGs, which is a possible sign of new as-yet-undiscovered groups or of a field population of young stars.« less

  14. Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong.

    PubMed

    Wong, Francis K W; Chan, Albert P C; Wong, Andy K D; Hon, Carol K H; Choi, Tracy N Y

    2018-03-10

    A study on electrical and mechanical (E&M) works-related accidents for public sector projects provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes of accidents by analyzing the circumstances of all E&M works accidents. The research aims to examine accidents of E&M works which happened in public sector projects. A total of 421 E&M works-related accidents in the "Public Works Programme Construction Site Safety and Environmental Statistics" (PCSES) system were extracted for analysis. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify the E&M accidents into different groups. The results identified three E&M accidents groups: (1) electricians with over 15 years of experience were prone to 'fall of person from height'; (2) electricians with zero to five years of experience were prone to 'slip, trip or fall on same level'; (3) air-conditioning workers with zero to five years of experience were prone to multiple types of accidents. Practical measures were recommended for each specific cluster group to avoid recurrence of similar accidents. The accident analysis would be vital for industry practitioners to enhance the safety performance of public sector projects. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap of how and why E&M accidents occur and promulgating preventive measures for E&M accidents which have been under researched.

  15. Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong

    PubMed Central

    Wong, Francis K. W.; Chan, Albert P. C.; Wong, Andy K. D.; Choi, Tracy N. Y.

    2018-01-01

    A study on electrical and mechanical (E&M) works-related accidents for public sector projects provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes of accidents by analyzing the circumstances of all E&M works accidents. The research aims to examine accidents of E&M works which happened in public sector projects. A total of 421 E&M works-related accidents in the “Public Works Programme Construction Site Safety and Environmental Statistics” (PCSES) system were extracted for analysis. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify the E&M accidents into different groups. The results identified three E&M accidents groups: (1) electricians with over 15 years of experience were prone to ‘fall of person from height’; (2) electricians with zero to five years of experience were prone to ‘slip, trip or fall on same level’; (3) air-conditioning workers with zero to five years of experience were prone to multiple types of accidents. Practical measures were recommended for each specific cluster group to avoid recurrence of similar accidents. The accident analysis would be vital for industry practitioners to enhance the safety performance of public sector projects. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap of how and why E&M accidents occur and promulgating preventive measures for E&M accidents which have been under researched. PMID:29534429

  16. Predictions of structural integrity of steam generator tubes under normal operating, accident, an severe accident conditions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Majumdar, S.

    1997-02-01

    Available models for predicting failure of flawed and unflawed steam generator tubes under normal operating, accident, and severe accident conditions are reviewed. Tests conducted in the past, though limited, tended to show that the earlier flow-stress model for part-through-wall axial cracks overestimated the damaging influence of deep cracks. This observation was confirmed by further tests at high temperatures, as well as by finite-element analysis. A modified correlation for deep cracks can correct this shortcoming of the model. Recent tests have shown that lateral restraint can significantly increase the failure pressure of tubes with unsymmetrical circumferential cracks. This observation was confirmedmore » by finite-element analysis. The rate-independent flow stress models that are successful at low temperatures cannot predict the rate-sensitive failure behavior of steam generator tubes at high temperatures. Therefore, a creep rupture model for predicting failure was developed and validated by tests under various temperature and pressure loadings that can occur during postulated severe accidents.« less

  17. Computer codes for thermal analysis of a solid rocket motor nozzle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chauhan, Rajinder Singh

    1988-01-01

    A number of computer codes are available for performing thermal analysis of solid rocket motor nozzles. Aerotherm Chemical Equilibrium (ACE) computer program can be used to perform one-dimensional gas expansion to determine the state of the gas at each location of a nozzle. The ACE outputs can be used as input to a computer program called Momentum/Energy Integral Technique (MEIT) for predicting boundary layer development development, shear, and heating on the surface of the nozzle. The output from MEIT can be used as input to another computer program called Aerotherm Charring Material Thermal Response and Ablation Program (CMA). This program is used to calculate oblation or decomposition response of the nozzle material. A code called Failure Analysis Nonlinear Thermal and Structural Integrated Code (FANTASTIC) is also likely to be used for performing thermal analysis of solid rocket motor nozzles after the program is duly verified. A part of the verification work on FANTASTIC was done by using one and two dimension heat transfer examples with known answers. An attempt was made to prepare input for performing thermal analysis of the CCT nozzle using the FANTASTIC computer code. The CCT nozzle problem will first be solved by using ACE, MEIT, and CMA. The same problem will then be solved using FANTASTIC. These results will then be compared for verification of FANTASTIC.

  18. Analysis of helium purification system capability during water ingress accident in RDE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sriyono; Kusmastuti, Rahayu; Bakhri, Syaiful; Sunaryo, Geni Rina

    2018-02-01

    The water ingress accident caused by steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) in RDE (Experimental Power Reactor) must be anticipated. During the accident, steam from secondary system diffused and mixed with helium gas in the primary coolant. To avoid graphite corrosion in the core, steam will be removed by Helium purification system (HPS). There are two trains in HPS, first train for normal operation and the second for the regeneration and accident. The second train is responsible to clean the coolant during accident condition. The second train is equipped with additional component, i.e. water cooler, post accident blower, and water separator to remove this mixture gas. During water ingress, the water release from rupture tube is mixed with helium gas. The water cooler acts as a steam condenser, where the steam will be separated by water separator from the helium gas. This paper analyses capability of HPS during water ingress accident. The goal of the research is to determine the time consumed by HPS to remove the total amount of water ingress. The method used is modelling and simulation of the HPS by using ChemCAD software. The BDBA and DBA scenarios will be simulated. In BDBA scenario, up to 110 kg of water is assumed to infiltrate to primary coolant while DBA is up to 35 kg. By using ChemCAD simulation, the second train will purify steam ingress maximum in 0.5 hours. The HPS of RDE has a capability to anticipate the water ingress accident.

  19. A Qualitative Study on Organizational Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents

    PubMed Central

    ESKANDARI, Davood; JAFARI, Mohammad Javad; MEHRABI, Yadollah; KIAN, Mostafa Pouya; CHARKHAND, Hossein; MIRGHOTBI, Mostafa

    2017-01-01

    Background: Technical, human, operational and organizational factors have been influencing the sequence of occupational accidents. Among them, organizational factors play a major role in causing occupational accidents. The aim of this research was to understand the Iranian safety experts’ experiences and perception of organizational factors. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 by using the content analysis technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 safety experts working in Iranian universities and industries and analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis method using the MAXQDA software. Results: Eleven organizational factors’ sub-themes were identified: management commitment, management participation, employee involvement, communication, blame culture, education and training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system. The participants considered these factors as effective on occupational accidents. Conclusion: The mentioned 11 organizational factors are probably involved in occupational accidents in Iran. Naturally, improving organizational factors can increase the safety performance and reduce occupational accidents. PMID:28435824

  20. A Qualitative Study on Organizational Factors Affecting Occupational Accidents.

    PubMed

    Eskandari, Davood; Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Kian, Mostafa Pouya; Charkhand, Hossein; Mirghotbi, Mostafa

    2017-03-01

    Technical, human, operational and organizational factors have been influencing the sequence of occupational accidents. Among them, organizational factors play a major role in causing occupational accidents. The aim of this research was to understand the Iranian safety experts' experiences and perception of organizational factors. This qualitative study was conducted in 2015 by using the content analysis technique. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 safety experts working in Iranian universities and industries and analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis method using the MAXQDA software. Eleven organizational factors' sub-themes were identified: management commitment, management participation, employee involvement, communication, blame culture, education and training, job satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, supervision, continuous improvement, and reward system. The participants considered these factors as effective on occupational accidents. The mentioned 11 organizational factors are probably involved in occupational accidents in Iran. Naturally, improving organizational factors can increase the safety performance and reduce occupational accidents.

  1. Paragliding accidents in remote areas.

    PubMed

    Fasching, G; Schippinger, G; Pretscher, R

    1997-08-01

    Paragliding is an increasingly popular hobby, as people try to find new and more adventurous activities. However, there is an increased and inherent danger with this sport. For this reason, as well as the inexperience of many operators, injuries occur frequently. This retrospective study centers on the helicopter rescue of 70 individuals in paragliding accidents. All histories were examined, and 43 patients answered a questionnaire. Nineteen (42%) pilots were injured when taking off, 20 (44%) during the flight, and six (13%) when landing. Routine and experience did not affect the prevalence of accident. Analysis of the causes of accident revealed pilot errors in all but three cases. In 34 rescue operations a landing of the helicopter near the site of the accident was possible. Half of the patients had to be rescued by a cable winch or a long rope fixed to the helicopter. Seven (10%) of the pilots suffered multiple trauma, 38 (54%) had injuries of the lower extremities, and 32 (84%) of them sustained fractures. Injuries to the spine were diagnosed in 34 cases with a fracture rate of 85%. One patient had an incomplete paraplegia. Injuries to the head occurred in 17 patients. No paraglider pilot died. The average hospitalization was 22 days, and average time of working inability was 14 weeks. Fourteen (34%) patients suffered from a permanent damage to their nerves or joints. Forty-three percent of the paragliders continued their sport despite the accident; two of them had another accident. An improved training program is necessary to lower the incidence of paragliding accidents. Optimal equipment to reduce injuries in case of accidents is mandatory. The helicopter emergency physician must perform a careful examination, provide stabilization of airways and circulation, give analgesics, splint fractured extremities, and transport the victim on a vacuum mattress to the appropriate hospital.

  2. The EUCLID/V1 Integrated Code for Safety Assessment of Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Reactors. Part 1: Basic Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mosunova, N. A.

    2018-05-01

    The article describes the basic models included in the EUCLID/V1 integrated code intended for safety analysis of liquid metal (sodium, lead, and lead-bismuth) cooled fast reactors using fuel rods with a gas gap and pellet dioxide, mixed oxide or nitride uranium-plutonium fuel under normal operation, under anticipated operational occurrences and accident conditions by carrying out interconnected thermal-hydraulic, neutronics, and thermal-mechanical calculations. Information about the Russian and foreign analogs of the EUCLID/V1 integrated code is given. Modeled objects, equation systems in differential form solved in each module of the EUCLID/V1 integrated code (the thermal-hydraulic, neutronics, fuel rod analysis module, and the burnup and decay heat calculation modules), the main calculated quantities, and also the limitations on application of the code are presented. The article also gives data on the scope of functions performed by the integrated code's thermal-hydraulic module, using which it is possible to describe both one- and twophase processes occurring in the coolant. It is shown that, owing to the availability of the fuel rod analysis module in the integrated code, it becomes possible to estimate the performance of fuel rods in different regimes of the reactor operation. It is also shown that the models implemented in the code for calculating neutron-physical processes make it possible to take into account the neutron field distribution over the fuel assembly cross section as well as other features important for the safety assessment of fast reactors.

  3. Comparative analysis of the countermeasures taken to mitigate exposure of the public to radioiodine following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents: lessons from both accidents

    PubMed Central

    Uyba, Vladimir; Samoylov, Alexander; Shinkarev, Sergey

    2018-01-01

    Abstract In the case of a severe radiation accident at a nuclear power station, the most important radiation hazard for the public is internal exposure of the thyroid to radioiodine. The purposes of this paper were (i) to compare countermeasures conducted (following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents) aimed at mitigation of exposure to the thyroid for the public, (ii) to present comparative estimates of doses to the thyroid and (iii) to derive lessons from the two accidents. The scale and time of countermeasures applied in the early phase of the accidents (sheltering, evacuation, and intake of stable iodine to block the thyroid) and at a later time (control of 131I concentration in foodstuffs) have been described. After the Chernobyl accident, the estimation of the thyroid doses for the public was mainly based on direct thyroid measurements of ~400 000 residents carried out within the first 2 months. The highest estimates of thyroid doses to children reached 50 Gy. After the Fukushima accident, the estimation of thyroid doses was based on radioecological models due to a lack of direct thyroid measurements (only slightly more than 1000 residents were measured). The highest estimates of thyroid doses to children were a few hundred mGy. Following the Chernobyl accident, ingestion of 131I through cows’ milk was the dominant pathway. Following the Fukushima accident, it appears that inhalation of contaminated air was the dominant pathway. Some lessons learned following the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents have been presented in this paper. PMID:29415268

  4. Brief Overlook on the Occupational Accidents Occurring During the Geotechnical Site Works

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akboğa Kale, Özge; Eskişar, Tuğba

    2017-10-01

    The aim of this paper is to evaluate occupational accidents reported in geotechnical site works. Variables of the accidents are categorized as the year and month of accidents, the technical codes used for defining the scope of work trades, end use and project type and cost, nature and cause of accidents, occupation of the victims and finally the cause of fatality. As a result, it is seen that the majority of victims were construction laborers or in special trade constructors who were working on a new project or new additions to an existing project. The geotechnical phase of the projects was whether excavation, landfill, sewer-water treatment, pipeline construction, commercial building or road construction. As the outcomes of the study it is evaluated that excavation, trenching and installing pipe or pile driving were the main causes of the accidents while trench collapse, struck by a falling object / projectile and wall collapse were the main causes of fatality. Moreover, it is established that more than half of the fatalities were due to asphyxia followed by fracture. These findings show that accidents occurred in geotechnical works do not only have high frequency but also high severity. This study emphasizes project specific countermeasures should be taken regarding the nature, cost and importance of the project and the occupation variabilities working on the project.

  5. [Fatal occupational accidents: updating of data from a mortality register].

    PubMed

    Mantero, Silvia; Baldasseroni, A; Chellini, Elisabetta; Giovanetti, Lucia

    2005-01-01

    In Italy, almost one thousand deaths due to occupational accidents are usually registered by INAIL each year. Case registration by INAIL has merely administrative purposes and therefore it is necessary to use other sources for case ascertainment in order to better estimate the real number of deaths related to occupational accidents, as shown also by previous papers. Evaluation of the contribution of another data source, namely the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry, to obtain the correct figure for occupational accident deaths through the use of a place-of-occurrence notation on the death certificate. Cases that occurred in residents in Tuscany in 2000-2001 were considered. They were identified from : a) the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry (RMR) using the E code of the ICD LX code of death, the year and place of occurrence; b) the INAIL archive using the year of event, the type of definition and management. The INAIL source was without doubt the most informative but was only 51% complete, whereas the RMR source, although less informative, was more complete (82.4%) and allowed identification of cases not registered by INAIL, that had occurred for instance in the Armed Forces and in the National Railway Company. However, the vast majority of RMR extra-cases occurred in subjects aged 65+, in agriculture and in the building industry. It is currently possible to plan a systematic linkage of the two sources due to the new possibilities that are available: the place-of-occurrence in the death certificate and the availability of individual data in the INAIL source.

  6. Recent applications of the transonic wing analysis computer code, TWING

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Subramanian, N. R.; Holst, T. L.; Thomas, S. D.

    1982-01-01

    An evaluation of the transonic-wing-analysis computer code TWING is given. TWING utilizes a fully implicit approximate factorization iteration scheme to solve the full potential equation in conservative form. A numerical elliptic-solver grid-generation scheme is used to generate the required finite-difference mesh. Several wing configurations were analyzed, and the limits of applicability of this code was evaluated. Comparisons of computed results were made with available experimental data. Results indicate that the code is robust, accurate (when significant viscous effects are not present), and efficient. TWING generally produces solutions an order of magnitude faster than other conservative full potential codes using successive-line overrelaxation. The present method is applicable to a wide range of isolated wing configurations including high-aspect-ratio transport wings and low-aspect-ratio, high-sweep, fighter configurations.

  7. BLSTA: A boundary layer code for stability analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wie, Yong-Sun

    1992-01-01

    A computer program is developed to solve the compressible, laminar boundary-layer equations for two-dimensional flow, axisymmetric flow, and quasi-three-dimensional flows including the flow along the plane of symmetry, flow along the leading-edge attachment line, and swept-wing flows with a conical flow approximation. The finite-difference numerical procedure used to solve the governing equations is second-order accurate. The flow over a wide range of speed, from subsonic to hypersonic speed with perfect gas assumption, can be calculated. Various wall boundary conditions, such as wall suction or blowing and hot or cold walls, can be applied. The results indicate that this boundary-layer code gives velocity and temperature profiles which are accurate, smooth, and continuous through the first and second normal derivatives. The code presented herein can be coupled with a stability analysis code and used to predict the onset of the boundary-layer transition which enables the assessment of the laminar flow control techniques. A user's manual is also included.

  8. A summary of unmanned aircraft accident/incident data : human factors implications

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-12-01

    A review and analysis of unmanned aircraft (UA) accident data was conducted to identify important human factors issues related to their use. UA accident data were collected from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. Classification of the accident data ...

  9. Accident investigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Laynor, William G. Bud

    1987-01-01

    The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has attributed wind shear as a cause or contributing factor in 15 accidents involving transport-categroy airplanes since 1970. Nine of these were nonfatal; but the other six accounted for 440 lives. Five of the fatal accidents and seven of the nonfatal accidents involved encounters with convective downbursts or microbursts. Of other accidents, two which were nonfatal were encounters with a frontal system shear, and one which was fatal was the result of a terrain induced wind shear. These accidents are discussed with reference to helping the aircraft to avoid the wind shear or if impossible to help the pilot to get through the wind shear.

  10. Road accidents caused by drivers falling asleep.

    PubMed

    Sagberg, F

    1999-11-01

    About 29600 Norwegian accident-involved drivers received a questionnaire about the last accident reported to their insurance company. About 9200 drivers (31%) returned the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about sleep or fatigue as contributing factors to the accident. In addition, the drivers reported whether or not they had fallen asleep some time whilst driving. and what the consequences had been. Sleep or drowsiness was a contributing factor in 3.9% of all accidents, as reported by drivers who were at fault for the accident. This factor was strongly over-represented in night-time accidents (18.6%), in running-off-the-road accidents (8.3%), accidents after driving more than 150 km on one trip (8.1%), and personal injury accidents (7.3%). A logistic regression analysis showed that the following additional factors made significant and independent contributions to increasing the odds of sleep involvement in an accident: dry road, high speed limit, driving one's own car, not driving the car daily, high education, and few years of driving experience. More male than female drivers were involved in sleep-related accidents, but this seems largely to be explained by males driving relatively more than females on roads with high speed limits. A total of 10% of male drivers and 4% of females reported to have fallen asleep while driving during the last 12 months. A total of 4% of these events resulted in an accident. The most frequent consequence of falling asleep--amounting to more than 40% of the reported incidents--was crossing of the right edge-line before awaking, whereas crossing of the centreline was reported by 16%. Drivers' lack of awareness of important precursors of falling asleep--like highway hypnosis, driving without awareness, and similar phenomena--as well as a reluctance to discontinue driving despite feeling tired are pointed out as likely contributors to sleep-related accidents. More knowledge about the drivers' experiences immediately

  11. [An analysis of 148 outpatient treated occupational accidents].

    PubMed

    Nicaeus, T; Erb, C; Rohrbach, M; Thiel, H J

    1996-10-01

    The most common eye injuries are non-perforating. Eye injuries in the workplace are a major cause of socioeconomical damage, morbidity and disability, despite well publicised standards for industrial eye protection. This study investigates the epidemiological and clinical aspects of 148 occupational cases. At the University Eye Clinic of Tübingen, 709 non-perforating eye injuries were registered as occupational accidents between 1995 and 1996. Of these cases, 148 were analysed retrospectively per random. The 5 most common injuries of 148 patients (m/f = 138/10; mean age 33.4 +/- 12 years) were related to corneal foreign body injuries (35%), chemical burns (15.5%), sub-conjunctival foreign bodies (12%), thermal/ultraviolet injuries (11%) and contusions (7.4%). Of these patients, 22.3% were employed as construction workers and 16.2% as metal workers. At the time of examination the visual acuity of the traumatic eye was 0.9 +/- 0.3. The interval between the beginning of work and accident was 6.2 +/- 6.4 hours in average (0.5-13.5 h). Of all accidents, 8.5% were caused during the first hour of work; in contrast 45.5% of all accidents were caused after 6 hours of work. Another 12.4 +/- 14.5 hours (5min.-72 h; median 7 h) passed by until the patients arrived for eye examination at the Eye Clinic of Tübingen. Only 6% of all patients arrived within the first hour, and 29.7% after 12 hours. Of all cases, 30.4% received first-aid treatment in their company by the factory doctor or by the eye doctor before examination at the Eye Clinic. Only 6.8% of all patients had protective spectacles during work. Incapacity was seen in 30.4%; the average in total was 5.5 +/- 10 days. Despite the late examination at the Eye Clinic the functional loss was mostly little except after chemical burns. Nevertheless, most occupational accidents can be avoided with better protective devices in order to reduce the incidence of injuries and socioeconomical damage. Therefore an intense campaign

  12. The MELTSPREAD Code for Modeling of Ex-Vessel Core Debris Spreading Behavior, Code Manual – Version3-beta

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Farmer, M. T.

    MELTSPREAD3 is a transient one-dimensional computer code that has been developed to predict the gravity-driven flow and freezing behavior of molten reactor core materials (corium) in containment geometries. Predictions can be made for corium flowing across surfaces under either dry or wet cavity conditions. The spreading surfaces that can be selected are steel, concrete, a user-specified material (e.g., a ceramic), or an arbitrary combination thereof. The corium can have a wide range of compositions of reactor core materials that includes distinct oxide phases (predominantly Zr, and steel oxides) plus metallic phases (predominantly Zr and steel). The code requires input thatmore » describes the containment geometry, melt “pour” conditions, and cavity atmospheric conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature, and cavity flooding information). For cases in which the cavity contains a preexisting water layer at the time of RPV failure, melt jet breakup and particle bed formation can be calculated mechanistically given the time-dependent melt pour conditions (input data) as well as the heatup and boiloff of water in the melt impingement zone (calculated). For core debris impacting either the containment floor or previously spread material, the code calculates the transient hydrodynamics and heat transfer which determine the spreading and freezing behavior of the melt. The code predicts conditions at the end of the spreading stage, including melt relocation distance, depth and material composition profiles, substrate ablation profile, and wall heatup. Code output can be used as input to other models such as CORQUENCH that evaluate long term core-concrete interaction behavior following the transient spreading stage. MELTSPREAD3 was originally developed to investigate BWR Mark I liner vulnerability, but has been substantially upgraded and applied to other reactor designs (e.g., the EPR), and more recently to the plant accidents at Fukushima Daiichi. The most recent round

  13. [Health care for aged victims of accidents and violence: analysis of SUS health services in Recife (PE, Brazil)].

    PubMed

    de Lima, Maria Luiza Carvalho; de Souza, Edinilsa Ramos; de Lima, Maria Luiza Lopes Timóteo; Barreira, Alice Kelly; Bezerra, Eduardo Duque; Acioli, Raquel Moura Lins

    2010-09-01

    A situational diagnosis of the health services regarding the care of aged victims of accidents and violence (AVAV) was carried out in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The National Policy for Reducing Accident and Violence Related Morbidity and Mortality and the National Policy for the Aged People Health were used as references. The methodology was based on the triangulation method, with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Questionnaires and interviews were answered by managers and health staff of hospital, prehospital and rehabilitation services; and local aged health policy managers. In 2006, only the Family Health Program reported prehospital care for AVAV, 31 cases were due to violence and 18 to accidents. The hospital care for aged people was 7.2% of the total care, 27% from accidents and 10% from violence. In the same year, there was no record of rehabilitation care of AVAV. The directives of the policies studied are only partially followed. The health care is deficient in several aspects, such as: clinical protocols; notification devices; support to the aged, caregivers and aggressors; and also continuous training. This analysis can be such a contribution to the reorganization of the local health system, recognizing the aged person as vulnerable to accidents and violence.

  14. Assessment of medium-term cardiovascular disease risk after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident: a retrospective analysis

    PubMed Central

    Nomura, Shuhei; Gilmour, Stuart; Oikawa, Tomoyoshi; Lee, Kiwon; Kiyabu, Grace Y; Shibuya, Kenji

    2017-01-01

    Objective To assess the medium-term indirect impact of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks and to identify whether risk factors for CVD changed after the accident. Participants Residents aged 40 years and over participating in annual public health check-ups from 2009 to 2012, administered by Minamisoma city, located about 10 to 40 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Methods The sex-specific Framingham CVD risk score was considered as the outcome measure and was compared before (2009–2010) and after the accident (2011–2012). A multivariate regression analysis was employed to evaluate risk factors for CVD. Results Data from 563 individuals (60.2% women) aged 40 to 74 years who participated in the check-ups throughout the study period was analysed. After adjusting for covariates, no statistically significant change was identified in the CVD risk score postaccident in both sexes, which may suggest no obvious medium-term health impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on CVD risk. The risk factors for CVD and their magnitude and direction (positive/negative) did not change after the accident. Conclusions There was no obvious increase in CVD risks in Minamisoma city, which may indicate successful management of health risks associated with CVD in the study sample. PMID:29275343

  15. Analysis of stationary and dynamic factors affecting highway accident occurrence: A dynamic correlated grouped random parameters binary logit approach.

    PubMed

    Fountas, Grigorios; Sarwar, Md Tawfiq; Anastasopoulos, Panagiotis Ch; Blatt, Alan; Majka, Kevin

    2018-04-01

    Traditional accident analysis typically explores non-time-varying (stationary) factors that affect accident occurrence on roadway segments. However, the impact of time-varying (dynamic) factors is not thoroughly investigated. This paper seeks to simultaneously identify pre-crash stationary and dynamic factors of accident occurrence, while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. Using highly disaggregate information for the potential dynamic factors, and aggregate data for the traditional stationary elements, a dynamic binary random parameters (mixed) logit framework is employed. With this approach, the dynamic nature of weather-related, and driving- and pavement-condition information is jointly investigated with traditional roadway geometric and traffic characteristics. To additionally account for the combined effect of the dynamic and stationary factors on the accident occurrence, the developed random parameters logit framework allows for possible correlations among the random parameters. The analysis is based on crash and non-crash observations between 2011 and 2013, drawn from urban and rural highway segments in the state of Washington. The findings show that the proposed methodological framework can account for both stationary and dynamic factors affecting accident occurrence probabilities, for panel effects, for unobserved heterogeneity through the use of random parameters, and for possible correlation among the latter. The comparative evaluation among the correlated grouped random parameters, the uncorrelated random parameters logit models, and their fixed parameters logit counterpart, demonstrate the potential of the random parameters modeling, in general, and the benefits of the correlated grouped random parameters approach, specifically, in terms of statistical fit and explanatory power. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. Cost-effectiveness analysis of telemedical devices for pre-clinical traffic accident emergency rescue in Germany.

    PubMed

    Auerbach, H; Schreyögg, J; Busse, R

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness (net costs per life year gained) of telemedical devices for pre-clinical traffic accident emergency rescue in Germany. Two equipment versions of a telemedical device are compared from a societal perspective with the baseline in Germany, i.e. the non-application of telemedicine in emergency rescues. The analysis is based on retrospective statistical data covering a period of 10 years with discounted costs not adjusted for inflation. Due to the uncertainty of data, certain assumptions and estimates were necessary. The outcome is measured in terms of "life years gained" by reducing therapy-free intervals and improvements in first-aid provided by laypersons. The introduction of the basic equipment version, "Automatic Accident Alert", is associated with net costs per life year gained of euro 247,977 (at baseline assumptions). The full equipment version of the telemedical device would lead to estimated net costs of euro 239,524 per life year gained. Multi-way sensitivity-analysis with best and worst case scenarios suggests that decreasing system costs would disproportionately reduce total costs, and that rapid market penetration would largely increase the system's benefit, while simultaneously reducing costs. The net costs per life year gained in the application of the two versions of the telemedical device for pre-clinical emergency rescue of traffic accidents are estimated as quite high. However, the implementation of the device as part of a larger European co-ordinated initiative is more realistic.

  17. Analysis of labour accidents in tunnel construction and introduction of prevention measures.

    PubMed

    Kikkawa, Naotaka; Itoh, Kazuya; Hori, Tomohito; Toyosawa, Yasuo; Orense, Rolando P

    2015-01-01

    At present, almost all mountain tunnels in Japan are excavated and constructed utilizing the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), which was advocated by Prof. Rabcewicz of Austria in 1964. In Japan, this method has been applied to tunnel construction since around 1978, after which there has been a subsequent decrease in the number of casualties during tunnel construction. However, there is still a relatively high incidence of labour accidents during tunnel construction when compared to incidence rates in the construction industry in general. During tunnel construction, rock fall events at the cutting face are a particularly characteristic of the type of accident that occurs. In this study, we analysed labour accidents that possess the characteristics of a rock fall event at a work site. We also introduced accident prevention measures against rock fall events.

  18. Characteristics of worker accidents on NYSDOT construction projects.

    PubMed

    Mohan, Satish; Zech, Wesley C

    2005-01-01

    This paper aims at providing cost-effective safety measures to protect construction workers in highway work zones, based on real data. Two types of accidents that occur in work zones were: (a) construction work area accidents, and (b) traffic accidents involving construction worker(s). A detailed analysis of work zone accidents involving 36 fatalities and 3,055 severe injuries to construction workers on New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) construction projects from 1990 to 2001 established that five accident types: (a) Struck/Pinned by Large Equipment, (b) Trip or Fall (elevated), (c) Contact w/Electrical or Gas Utility, (d) Struck-by Moving/Falling Load, and (e) Crane/Lift Device Failure accounted for nearly 96% of the fatal accidents, nearly 63% of the hospital-level injury accidents, and nearly 91% of the total costs. These construction work area accidents had a total cost of $133.8 million. Traffic accidents that involve contractors' employees were also examined. Statistical analyses of the traffic accidents established that five traffic accident types: (a) Work Space Intrusion, (b) Worker Struck-by Vehicle Inside Work Space, (c) Flagger Struck-by Vehicle, (d) Worker Struck-by Vehicle Entering/Exiting Work Space, and (e) Construction Equipment Struck-by Vehicle Inside Work Space accounted for nearly 86% of the fatal, nearly 70% of the hospital-level injury and minor injury traffic accidents, and $45.4 million (79.4%) of the total traffic accident costs. The results of this paper provide real statistics on construction worker related accidents reported on construction work zones. Potential preventions based on real statistics have also been suggested. The ranking of accident types, both within the work area as well as in traffic, will guide the heavy highway contractor and owner agencies in identifying the most cost effective safety preventions.

  19. Otorhinolaryngologic disorders and diving accidents: an analysis of 306 divers.

    PubMed

    Klingmann, Christoph; Praetorius, Mark; Baumann, Ingo; Plinkert, Peter K

    2007-10-01

    Diving is a very popular leisure activity with an increasing number of participants. As more than 80% of the diving related problems involve the head and neck region, every otorhinolaryngologist should be familiar with diving medical standards. We here present an analysis of more than 300 patients we have treated in the past four years. Between January 2002 and October 2005, 306 patients presented in our department with otorhinological disorders after diving, or after diving accidents. We collected the following data: name, sex, age, date of treatment, date of accident, diagnosis, special aspects of the diagnosis, number of dives, diving certification, whether and which surgery had been performed, history of acute diving accidents or follow up treatment, assessment of fitness to dive and special remarks. The study setting was a retrospective cohort study. The distribution of the disorders was as follows: 24 divers (8%) with external ear disorders, 140 divers (46%) with middle ear disorders, 56 divers (18%) with inner ear disorders, 53 divers (17%) with disorders of the nose and sinuses, 24 divers (8%) with decompression illness (DCI) and 9 divers (3%) who complained of various symptoms. Only 18% of the divers presented with acute disorders. The most common disorder (24%) was Eustachian tube dysfunction. Female divers were significantly more often affected. Chronic sinusitis was found to be associated with a significantly higher number of performed dives. Conservative treatment failed in 30% of the patients but sinus surgery relieved symptoms in all patients of this group. The middle ear is the main problem area for divers. Middle ear ventilation problems due to Eustachian tube dysfunction can be treated conservatively with excellent results whereas pathology of the tympanic membrane and ossicular chain often require surgery. More than four out of five patients visited our department to re-establish their fitness to dive. Although the treatment of acute diving

  20. 76 FR 57982 - Building Energy Codes Cost Analysis

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-19

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [Docket No. EERE-2011-BT-BC-0046] Building Energy Codes Cost Analysis Correction In notice document 2011-23236 beginning on page... heading ``Table 1. Cash flow components'' should read ``Table 7. Cash flow components''. [FR Doc. C1-2011...

  1. A Flexible Hierarchical Bayesian Modeling Technique for Risk Analysis of Major Accidents.

    PubMed

    Yu, Hongyang; Khan, Faisal; Veitch, Brian

    2017-09-01

    Safety analysis of rare events with potentially catastrophic consequences is challenged by data scarcity and uncertainty. Traditional causation-based approaches, such as fault tree and event tree (used to model rare event), suffer from a number of weaknesses. These include the static structure of the event causation, lack of event occurrence data, and need for reliable prior information. In this study, a new hierarchical Bayesian modeling based technique is proposed to overcome these drawbacks. The proposed technique can be used as a flexible technique for risk analysis of major accidents. It enables both forward and backward analysis in quantitative reasoning and the treatment of interdependence among the model parameters. Source-to-source variability in data sources is also taken into account through a robust probabilistic safety analysis. The applicability of the proposed technique has been demonstrated through a case study in marine and offshore industry. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  2. Road profiling of traffic accidents in Jos, Nigeria, 1995-1999.

    PubMed

    Bombom, Leonard S; Edino, Marcus O

    2009-09-01

    Road traffic accident data in Nigeria generally lack exact coordinate information. Accident analysis is, therefore, restricted to aggregate data on trends, magnitude and temporal dimensions. This article addresses the road accident problem in Jos between 1995 and 1999 through a road profiling approach. Results show that four gateway routes, seven multi-lane roadways (including two gateway routes) and seven road intersections accounted for 84% of all traffic accidents, 84% of injured casualties and 88% of fatalities. This approach allows for quantification of impacts of controlling for accidents by deliberate profiling of roads for close monitoring and policing. For example, reducing accident counts and fatalities by 50% each on gateway routes will amount to approximately 35 and 40% reduction in accident and fatality counts, respectively. Countermeasures must consider these roadways and intersections as important inputs in their accidents and casualty reduction targets.

  3. Major differences in rates of occupational accidents between different nationalities of seafarers.

    PubMed

    Hansen, Henrik L; Laursen, Lise Hedgaard; Frydberg, Morten; Kristensen, Soeren

    2008-01-01

    Earlier studies and statistics have shown that merchant seafarers from the South East Asia had considerable lower accident rates when compared with seafarers from Western Europe. The purposes of the study were to investigate whether the earlier observations were sustained if further sources on occurrence of accidents were used and to identify specific causes of excess accident rates among certain nationalities. Occupational accidents aboard Danish merchant ships during one year were identified from four different sources. These included accidents reported to the maritime authorities, accidents reported to a mutual insurance company, files on medical costs reimbursed by the government and finally, accidents in which there has been contact to the radio medical service. Time at risk aboard was obtained from a register on all employment periods aboard merchant ships. A total of 943 accidents causing personal injury to a seafarer directly caused by work aboard were identified. Among these accidents, 499 had taken place aboard cargo ships in international trade. Only these were used in the detailed analysis. The accident rate for all identified accidents aboard cargo ships were 84 accidents per 1,000 years aboard. The crude incidence rate ratio (IRR) for East European seafarers was 0.88 and for South East Asians 0.38 using West European seafarers as reference. In a Poisson regression analysis, the IRR for South East Asians was 0.29 (0.22-0.38). In an analysis including only more serious accidents, IRR for South East Asians rose to 0.36 (0.26-0.48). This study indicates that seafarers from South East Asia, mainly the Philippines, may have a genuine lower risk of occupational accidents in comparison with seafarers from Western and Eastern Europe. Differences in approach to safety and risk taking between South East Asian and European seafarers should be identified and positives attitudes included in accident preventing programmes. Main messages Seafarers from South East

  4. An aftermath analysis of the 2014 coal mine accident in Soma, Turkey: Use of risk performance indicators based on historical experience.

    PubMed

    Spada, Matteo; Burgherr, Peter

    2016-02-01

    On the 13th of May 2014 a fire related incident in the Soma coal mine in Turkey caused 301 fatalities and more than 80 injuries. This has been the largest coal mine accident in Turkey, and in the OECD country group, so far. This study investigated if such a disastrous event should be expected, in a statistical sense, based on historical observations. For this purpose, PSI's ENSAD database is used to extract accident data for the period 1970-2014. Four different cases are analyzed, i.e., OECD, OECD w/o Turkey, Turkey and USA. Analysis of temporal trends for annual numbers of accidents and fatalities indicated a non-significant decreasing tendency for OECD and OECD w/o Turkey and a significant one for USA, whereas for Turkey both measures showed an increase over time. The expectation analysis revealed clearly that an event with the consequences of the Soma accident is rather unlikely for OECD, OECD w/o Turkey and USA. In contrast, such a severe accident has a substantially higher expectation for Turkey, i.e. it cannot be considered an extremely rare event, based on historical experience. This indicates a need for improved safety measures and stricter regulations in the Turkish coal mining sector in order to get closer to the rest of OECD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Analysis of labour accidents in tunnel construction and introduction of prevention measures

    PubMed Central

    KIKKAWA, Naotaka; ITOH, Kazuya; HORI, Tomohito; TOYOSAWA, Yasuo; ORENSE, Rolando P.

    2015-01-01

    At present, almost all mountain tunnels in Japan are excavated and constructed utilizing the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), which was advocated by Prof. Rabcewicz of Austria in 1964. In Japan, this method has been applied to tunnel construction since around 1978, after which there has been a subsequent decrease in the number of casualties during tunnel construction. However, there is still a relatively high incidence of labour accidents during tunnel construction when compared to incidence rates in the construction industry in general. During tunnel construction, rock fall events at the cutting face are a particularly characteristic of the type of accident that occurs. In this study, we analysed labour accidents that possess the characteristics of a rock fall event at a work site. We also introduced accident prevention measures against rock fall events. PMID:26027707

  6. SCORE-EVET: a computer code for the multidimensional transient thermal-hydraulic analysis of nuclear fuel rod arrays. [BWR; PWR

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Benedetti, R. L.; Lords, L. V.; Kiser, D. M.

    1978-02-01

    The SCORE-EVET code was developed to study multidimensional transient fluid flow in nuclear reactor fuel rod arrays. The conservation equations used were derived by volume averaging the transient compressible three-dimensional local continuum equations in Cartesian coordinates. No assumptions associated with subchannel flow have been incorporated into the derivation of the conservation equations. In addition to the three-dimensional fluid flow equations, the SCORE-EVET code ocntains: (a) a one-dimensional steady state solution scheme to initialize the flow field, (b) steady state and transient fuel rod conduction models, and (c) comprehensive correlation packages to describe fluid-to-fuel rod interfacial energy and momentum exchange. Velocitymore » and pressure boundary conditions can be specified as a function of time and space to model reactor transient conditions such as a hypothesized loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) or flow blockage.« less

  7. Modeling of local steam condensation on walls in presence of non-condensable gases. Application to a loca calculation in reactor containment using the multidimensional geyser/tonus code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Benet, L.V.; Caroli, C.; Cornet, P.

    1995-09-01

    This paper reports part of a study of possible severe pressurized water reactor (PWR) accidents. The need for containment modeling, and in particular for a hydrogen risk study, was reinforced in France after 1990, with the requirement that severe accidents must be taken into account in the design of future plants. This new need of assessing the transient local hydrogen concentration led to the development, in the Mechanical Engineering and Technology Department of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA/DMT), of the multidimensional code GEYSER/TONUS for containment analysis. A detailed example of the use of this code is presented. The mixturemore » consisted of noncondensable gases (air or air plus hydrogen) and water vapor and liquid water. This is described by a compressible homogeneous two-phase flow model and wall condensation is based on the Chilton-Colburn formula and the analogy between heat and mass transfer. Results are given for a transient two-dimensional axially-symmetric computation for the first hour of a simplified accident sequence. In this there was an initial injection of a large amount of water vapor followed by a smaller amount and by hydrogen injection.« less

  8. Spatio-temporal patterns of hazards and their use in risk assessment and mitigation. Case study of road accidents in Romania

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Catalin Stanga, Iulian

    2013-04-01

    the spatial or temporal clustering of crash accidents. Since the 1990's, Geographical Informational Systems (GIS) became a very important tool for traffic and road safety management, allowing not only the spatial and multifactorial analysis, but also graphical and non-graphical outputs. The current paper presents an accessible GIS methodology to study the spatio-temporal pattern of injury related road accidents, to identify the high density accidents zones, to make a cluster analysis, to create multicriterial typologies, to identify spatial and temporal similarities and to explain them. In this purpose, a Geographical Information System was created, allowing a complex analysis that involves not only the events, but also a large set of interrelated and spatially linked attributes. The GIS includes the accidents as georeferenced point elements with a spatially linked attribute database: identification information (date, location details); accident type; main, secondary and aggravating causes; data about driver; vehicle information; consequences (damages, injured peoples and fatalities). Each attribute has its own number code that allows both the statistical analysis and the spatial interrogation. The database includes those road accidents that led to physical injuries and loss of human lives between 2007 and 2012 and the spatial analysis was realized using TNTmips 7.3 software facilities. Data aggregation and processing allowed creating the spatial pattern of injury related road accidents through Kernel density estimation at three different levels (national - Romania; county level - Iasi County; local level - Iasi town). Spider graphs were used to create the temporal pattern or road accidents at three levels (daily, weekly and monthly) directly related to their causes. Moreover the spatial and temporal database relates the natural hazards (glazed frost, fog, and blizzard) with the human made ones, giving the opportunity to evaluate the nature of uncertainties in risk

  9. Estimation Of 137Cs Using Atmospheric Dispersion Models After A Nuclear Reactor Accident

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simsek, V.; Kindap, T.; Unal, A.; Pozzoli, L.; Karaca, M.

    2012-04-01

    Nuclear energy will continue to have an important role in the production of electricity in the world as the need of energy grows up. But the safety of power plants will always be a question mark for people because of the accidents happened in the past. Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident which happened in 26 April 1986 was the biggest nuclear accident ever. Because of explosion and fire large quantities of radioactive material was released to the atmosphere. The release of the radioactive particles because of accident affected not only its region but the entire Northern hemisphere. But much of the radioactive material was spread over west USSR and Europe. There are many studies about distribution of radioactive particles and the deposition of radionuclides all over Europe. But this was not true for Turkey especially for the deposition of radionuclides released after Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and the radiation doses received by people. The aim of this study is to determine the radiation doses received by people living in Turkish territory after Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and use this method in case of an emergency. For this purpose The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model was used to simulate meteorological conditions after the accident. The results of WRF which were for the 12 days after accident were used as input data for the HYSPLIT model. NOAA-ARL's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air Resources Laboratory) dispersion model HYSPLIT was used to simulate the 137Cs distrubition. The deposition values of 137Cs in our domain after Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Accident were between 1.2E-37 Bq/m2 and 3.5E+08 Bq/m2. The results showed that Turkey was affected because of the accident especially the Black Sea Region. And the doses were calculated by using GENII-LIN which is multipurpose health physics code.

  10. Retrospection of Chernobyl nuclear accident for decision analysis concerning remedial actions in Ukraine

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Georgievskiy, Vladimir

    2007-07-01

    It is considered the efficacy of decisions concerning remedial actions when of-site radiological monitoring in the early and (or) in the intermediate phases was absent or was not informative. There are examples of such situations in the former Soviet Union where many people have been exposed: releases of radioactive materials from 'Krasnoyarsk-26' into Enisey River, releases of radioactive materials from 'Chelabinsk-65' (the Kishtim accident), nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, the Chernobyl nuclear accident etc. If monitoring in the early and (or) in the intermediate phases is absent the decisions concerning remedial actions are usually developed on the basemore » of permanent monitoring. However decisions of this kind may be essentially erroneous. For these cases it is proposed to make retrospection of radiological data of the early and intermediate phases of nuclear accident and to project decisions concerning remedial actions on the base of both retrospective data and permanent monitoring data. In this Report the indicated problem is considered by the example of the Chernobyl accident for Ukraine. Their of-site radiological monitoring in the early and intermediate phases was unsatisfactory. In particular, the pasture-cow-milk monitoring had not been made. All official decisions concerning dose estimations had been made on the base of measurements of {sup 137}Cs in body (40 measurements in 135 days and 55 measurements in 229 days after the Chernobyl accident). For the retrospection of radiological data of the Chernobyl accident dynamic model has been developed. This model has structure similar to the structure of Pathway model and Farmland model. Parameters of the developed model have been identified for agricultural conditions of Russia and Ukraine. By means of this model dynamics of 20 radionuclides in pathways and dynamics of doses have been estimated for the early, intermediate and late phases of the Chernobyl accident. The main results are

  11. Organizational influence on the occurrence of work accidents involving exposure to biological material.

    PubMed

    Marziale, Maria Helena Palucci; Rocha, Fernanda Ludmilla Rossi; Robazzi, Maria Lúcia do Carmo Cruz; Cenzi, Camila Maria; dos Santos, Heloisa Ehmke Cardoso; Trovó, Marli Elisa Mendes

    2013-01-01

    to analyze work accidents involving exposure to biological materials which took place among personnel working in nursing and to evaluate the influence of the organizational culture on the occurrence of these accidents. a retrospective, analytical study, carried out in two stages in a hospital that was part of the Network for the Prevention of Work Accidents. The first stage involved the analysis of the characteristics of the work accidents involving exposure to biological materials as recorded over a seven-year period by the nursing staff in the hospital studied, and registered in the Network databank. The second stage involved the analysis of 122 nursing staff members' perception of the institutional culture, who were allocated to the control group (workers who had not had an accident) and the case group (workers who had had an accident). 386 accidents had been recorded: percutaneous lesions occurred in 79% of the cases, needles were the materials involved in 69.7% of the accidents, and in 81.9% of the accident there was contact with blood. Regarding the influence of the organizational culture on the occurrence of accidents, the results obtained through the analysis of the two groups did not demonstrate significant differences between the average scores attributed by the workers in each organizational value or practice category. It is concluded that accidents involving exposure to biological material need to be avoided, however, it was not possible to confirm the influence of organizational values or practices on workers' behavior concerning the occurrence of these accidents.

  12. Analysis of Occupational Accident Fatalities and Injuries Among Male Group in Iran Between 2008 and 2012

    PubMed Central

    Alizadeh, Seyed Shamseddin; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher; Sepehri, Mohammad Mehdi

    2015-01-01

    Background: Because of occupational accidents, permanent disabilities and deaths occur and economic and workday losses emerge. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the factors responsible for occupational accidents occurred in Iran. Patients and Methods: The current study analyzed 1464 occupational accidents recorded by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs’ offices in Iran during 2008 - 2012. At first, general understanding of accidents was obtained using descriptive statistics. Afterwards, the chi-square test and Cramer’s V statistic (Vc) were used to determine the association between factors influencing the type of injury as occupational accident outcomes. Results: There was no significant association between marital status and time of day with the type of injury. However, activity sector, cause of accident, victim’s education, age of victim and victim’s experience were significantly associated with the type of injury. Conclusions: Successful accident prevention relies largely on knowledge about the causes of accidents. In any accident control activity, particularly in occupational accidents, correctly identifying high-risk groups and factors influencing accidents is the key to successful interventions. Results of this study can cause to increase accident awareness and enable workplace’s management to select and prioritize problem areas and safety system weakness in workplaces. PMID:26568848

  13. Analysis of Phenix end-of-life natural convection test with the MARS-LMR code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jeong, H. Y.; Ha, K. S.; Lee, K. L.

    The end-of-life test of Phenix reactor performed by the CEA provided an opportunity to have reliable and valuable test data for the validation and verification of a SFR system analysis code. KAERI joined this international program for the analysis of Phenix end-of-life natural circulation test coordinated by the IAEA from 2008. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the capability of existing SFR system analysis code MARS-LMR and to identify any limitation of the code. The analysis was performed in three stages: pre-test analysis, blind posttest analysis, and final post-test analysis. In the pre-test analysis, the design conditionsmore » provided by the CEA were used to obtain a prediction of the test. The blind post-test analysis was based on the test conditions measured during the tests but the test results were not provided from the CEA. The final post-test analysis was performed to predict the test results as accurate as possible by improving the previous modeling of the test. Based on the pre-test analysis and blind test analysis, the modeling for heat structures in the hot pool and cold pool, steel structures in the core, heat loss from roof and vessel, and the flow path at core outlet were reinforced in the final analysis. The results of the final post-test analysis could be characterized into three different phases. In the early phase, the MARS-LMR simulated the heat-up process correctly due to the enhanced heat structure modeling. In the mid phase before the opening of SG casing, the code reproduced the decrease of core outlet temperature successfully. Finally, in the later phase the increase of heat removal by the opening of the SG opening was well predicted with the MARS-LMR code. (authors)« less

  14. Accidents in Germany: evaluation of the german telephone health survey 2004.

    PubMed

    Saß, Anke-Christine

    2008-09-01

    In the year 2006 there were over 19 000 fatal accidents in Germany and estimates put the number of accidental injuries at more than 8 million. Detailed information on the pattern of accidents is indispensable for the definition of priorities in accident prevention. The German Telephone Health Survey 2004 provides representative cross-sectional data on the health of German residents from 18 years of age (n = 7341). Questions on the prevalence of accidents (13 items) were selected for analysis. Every tenth interviewee reported being injured in an accident in the previous 12 months. Men, particularly young men, are at greater risk of accidents than women. Almost one third of all accidents occurred at home. Social status had no influence on the probability of having an accident, but did affect where the accident happened. The survey yields information on the overall pattern of non-fatal accidents in Germany. The data point to target groups for accident prevention measures.

  15. [Analysis and evaluation of occupational accidents in dancers of the dance theatre].

    PubMed

    Wanke, E M; Groneberg, D A; Quarcoo, D

    2011-03-01

    The dance theatre is an autonomous form of presentation within the performing arts. It is a combination of dance, drama, singing and speaking. As the actors are usually professional dancers the dance theatre is associated with the professional dance. Compared with other dance styles there is an enhanced usage of props, costumes or décor to intensify the production and the expressiveness. In contrast to the defined professional dance technique the range of movements is unlimited. There has not yet been done any research on the influence of props as well as décor in terms of exogenous factors potentially favouring injuries. Aim of this study is to characterize specific injury patterns, as well as their causes and to suggest basic approaches to prevent injuries in the dance theatre. The data of this evaluation comprise occupational accident reports, accident reports of various Berlin theatres as well as case records of all Berlin State Theatres (n = 1106) of the Berlin State Accident Insurance over a 9-year period. 103 occupational accidents are accounted for the dance theatre. 44.6 % of the accidents happen during rehearsals, 42.4 % during performances, 76.7 % on stage and adjoining areas and 10.7 % in the ballet studio. Second most common movement resulting in an injury are jumps with 25.4 %. Altogether 69.7 % of the accidents have a uniquely defined exogenous cause with 30.5 % by props, 12.7 % by the floor and 17.2 % by the dance partner. 30.3 % of the accidents have multifactorial causes (e. g. the social situation, state of training and nutrition). 61 % of all accidents happen within three hours after starting work with an increase of occupational accidents between 11:00 - 12:00 hrs and 08:00- 09:00 hrs. The lower extremity is the most affected location (53.3 %), followed by the head/neck area (21.4 %) and the upper extremity (17.5 %). Contusions (26.2 %), distortions (17.5 %), muscular strains (19.4 %) and wounds (13.6 %) are the most frequent types of

  16. Of Disasters and Dragon Kings: A Statistical Analysis of Nuclear Power Incidents and Accidents.

    PubMed

    Wheatley, Spencer; Sovacool, Benjamin; Sornette, Didier

    2017-01-01

    We perform a statistical study of risk in nuclear energy systems. This study provides and analyzes a data set that is twice the size of the previous best data set on nuclear incidents and accidents, comparing three measures of severity: the industry standard International Nuclear Event Scale, the Nuclear Accident Magnitude Scale of radiation release, and cost in U.S. dollars. The rate of nuclear accidents with cost above 20 MM 2013 USD, per reactor per year, has decreased from the 1970s until the present time. Along the way, the rate dropped significantly after Chernobyl (April 1986) and is expected to be roughly stable around a level of 0.003, suggesting an average of just over one event per year across the current global fleet. The distribution of costs appears to have changed following the Three Mile Island major accident (March 1979). The median cost became approximately 3.5 times smaller, but an extremely heavy tail emerged, being well described by a Pareto distribution with parameter α = 0.5-0.6. For instance, the cost of the two largest events, Chernobyl and Fukushima (March 2011), is equal to nearly five times the sum of the 173 other events. We also document a significant runaway disaster regime in both radiation release and cost data, which we associate with the "dragon-king" phenomenon. Since the major accident at Fukushima (March 2011) occurred recently, we are unable to quantify an impact of the industry response to this disaster. Excluding such improvements, in terms of costs, our range of models suggests that there is presently a 50% chance that (i) a Fukushima event (or larger) occurs every 60-150 years, and (ii) that a Three Mile Island event (or larger) occurs every 10-20 years. Further-even assuming that it is no longer possible to suffer an event more costly than Chernobyl or Fukushima-the expected annual cost and its standard error bracket the cost of a new plant. This highlights the importance of improvements not only immediately following

  17. The evolution of the genetic code: Impasses and challenges.

    PubMed

    Kun, Ádám; Radványi, Ádám

    2018-02-01

    The origin of the genetic code and translation is a "notoriously difficult problem". In this survey we present a list of questions that a full theory of the genetic code needs to answer. We assess the leading hypotheses according to these criteria. The stereochemical, the coding coenzyme handle, the coevolution, the four-column theory, the error minimization and the frozen accident hypotheses are discussed. The integration of these hypotheses can account for the origin of the genetic code. But experiments are badly needed. Thus we suggest a host of experiments that could (in)validate some of the models. We focus especially on the coding coenzyme handle hypothesis (CCH). The CCH suggests that amino acids attached to RNA handles enhanced catalytic activities of ribozymes. Alternatively, amino acids without handles or with a handle consisting of a single adenine, like in contemporary coenzymes could have been employed. All three scenarios can be tested in in vitro compartmentalized systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. RMP Guidance for Warehouses - Appendix A/B: 40 CFR part 68/Selected NAICS Codes

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    These appendices contain the full text of 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 68, Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions; which includes hazard assessment, emergency response, substance thresholds, reporting requirements, and the Risk Management Plan.

  19. Current and anticipated uses of the thermal hydraulics codes at the NRC

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Caruso, R.

    1997-07-01

    The focus of Thermal-Hydraulic computer code usage in nuclear regulatory organizations has undergone a considerable shift since the codes were originally conceived. Less work is being done in the area of {open_quotes}Design Basis Accidents,{close_quotes}, and much more emphasis is being placed on analysis of operational events, probabalistic risk/safety assessment, and maintenance practices. All of these areas need support from Thermal-Hydraulic computer codes to model the behavior of plant fluid systems, and they all need the ability to perform large numbers of analyses quickly. It is therefore important for the T/H codes of the future to be able to support thesemore » needs, by providing robust, easy-to-use, tools that produce easy-to understand results for a wider community of nuclear professionals. These tools need to take advantage of the great advances that have occurred recently in computer software, by providing users with graphical user interfaces for both input and output. In addition, reduced costs of computer memory and other hardware have removed the need for excessively complex data structures and numerical schemes, which make the codes more difficult and expensive to modify, maintain, and debug, and which increase problem run-times. Future versions of the T/H codes should also be structured in a modular fashion, to allow for the easy incorporation of new correlations, models, or features, and to simplify maintenance and testing. Finally, it is important that future T/H code developers work closely with the code user community, to ensure that the code meet the needs of those users.« less

  20. [Accidents in equestrian sports : Analysis of injury mechanisms and patterns].

    PubMed

    Schröter, C; Schulte-Sutum, A; Zeckey, C; Winkelmann, M; Krettek, C; Mommsen, P

    2017-02-01

    Equestrian sports are one of the most popular forms of sport in Germany, while also being one of the most accident-prone sports. Furthermore, riding accidents are frequently associated with a high degree of severity of injuries and mortality. Nevertheless, there are insufficient data regarding incidences, demographics, mechanisms of accidents, injury severity and patterns and outcome of injured persons in amateur equestrian sports. Accordingly, it was the aim of the present study to retrospectively analyze these aspects. A total of 503 patients were treated in the emergency room of the Hannover Medical School because of an accident during recreational horse riding between 2006 and 2011. The female gender was predominantly affected with 89.5 %. The mean age of the patients was 26.2 ± 14.9 years and women (24.5 ± 12.5 years) were on average younger than men (40.2 ± 23.9 years). A special risk group was girls and young women aged between 10 and 39 years. The overall injury severity was measured using the injury severity score (ISS). Based on the total population, head injuries were the most common location of injuries with 17.3 % followed by injuries to the upper extremities with 15.2 % and the thoracic and lumbar spine with 10.9 %. The three most common injury locations after falling from a horse were the head (17.5 %), the upper extremities (17.4 %), the thoracic and lumbar spine (12.9 %). The most frequent injuries while handling horses were foot injuries (17.2 %), followed by head (16.6 %) and mid-facial injuries (15.0 %). With respect to the mechanism of injury accidents while riding were predominant (74 %), while accidents when handling horses accounted for only 26 %. The median ISS was 9.8 points. The proportion of multiple trauma patients (ISS > 16) was 18.1 %. Based on the total sample, the average in-hospital patient stay was 5.3 ± 5.4 days with a significantly higher proportion of hospitalized patients in the

  1. Micromechanics Analysis Code Post-Processing (MACPOST) User Guide. 1.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldberg, Robert K.; Comiskey, Michele D.; Bednarcyk, Brett A.

    1999-01-01

    As advanced composite materials have gained wider usage. the need for analytical models and computer codes to predict the thermomechanical deformation response of these materials has increased significantly. Recently, a micromechanics technique called the generalized method of cells (GMC) has been developed, which has the capability to fulfill this -oal. Tc provide a framework for GMC, the Micromechanics Analysis Code with Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) has been developed. As MAC/GMC has been updated, significant improvements have been made to the post-processing capabilities of the code. Through the MACPOST program, which operates directly within the MSC/PATRAN graphical pre- and post-processing package, a direct link between the analysis capabilities of MAC/GMC and the post-processing capabilities of MSC/PATRAN has been established. MACPOST has simplified the production, printing. and exportation of results for unit cells analyzed by MAC/GMC. MACPOST allows different micro-level quantities to be plotted quickly and easily in contour plots. In addition, meaningful data for X-Y plots can be examined. MACPOST thus serves as an important analysis and visualization tool for the macro- and micro-level data generated by MAC/GMC. This report serves as the user's manual for the MACPOST program.

  2. Quantification method analysis of the relationship between occupant injury and environmental factors in traffic accidents.

    PubMed

    Ju, Yong Han; Sohn, So Young

    2011-01-01

    Injury analysis following a vehicle crash is one of the most important research areas. However, most injury analyses have focused on one-dimensional injury variables, such as the AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) or the IIS (Injury Impairment Scale), at a time in relation to various traffic accident factors. However, these studies cannot reflect the various injury phenomena that appear simultaneously. In this paper, we apply quantification method II to the NASS (National Automotive Sampling System) CDS (Crashworthiness Data System) to find the relationship between the categorical injury phenomena, such as the injury scale, injury position, and injury type, and the various traffic accident condition factors, such as speed, collision direction, vehicle type, and seat position. Our empirical analysis indicated the importance of safety devices, such as restraint equipment and airbags. In addition, we found that narrow impact, ejection, air bag deployment, and higher speed are associated with more severe than minor injury to the thigh, ankle, and leg in terms of dislocation, abrasion, or laceration. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. A Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) Examination of Commercial Vessel Accidents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    Naval Operations before the Congress on FY2013 Department of Navy posture. Heinrich , H . W. (1941). Industrial accident prevention : A scientific...Theory The core of the Domino Theory, developed by Herbert W. Heinrich who studied industrial safety in the early 1900s, is that accidents are a result...chain of events resulting in an accident . Heinrich likened the dominos to unsafe conditions or unsafe acts, where their subsequent removal prevents a

  4. [Retrospective analysis and prevention strategies for accidents associated with cervical manipulation in China].

    PubMed

    Wang, Hui-Hao; Zhan, Hong-Sheng; Zhang, Ming-Cai; Chen, Bo; Guo, Kai

    2012-09-01

    To review previously reported injuries cases which were associated with cervical manipulation in China, and to describe the risks and benefits of the therapy. Relevant case reports, review articles, surveys, and investigations regarding treatment of cervical spondylosis with cervical manipulation involving accidents and associated complication were retrived with a search of the literature from SinoMed, CNKI, CQVIP, and Wanfang digital databases between 1979 to March 2011. The data were extracted and statistically analyzed. Total of 150 cases of injury reported in 40 articles corresponded the inclusion criteria. Accidents occurred in 156 cases,of them,syncope was in 45 cases (28.85%), mild spinal cord injury or compression was in 34 cases (21.79%), nerve root injury was in 24 cases (15.38%), ineffective or symptom increased was in 11 cases (7.05%); cervical spine fracture was in 11 cases (7.05%), dislocation or semiluxation was in 6 cases (3.85%), soft tissue injury was in 3 cases (1.92%), serious accident was 22 cases (14.70%, including paralysis, death and cerebrovascular accident). In cases of serious accident, 12 cases (54.55%) had the other primary diseases. Types of related manipulation including rotation reduction (42.00%, 63 cases), rubbing points or muscle resulting strong stimulation (28.00%, 42 cases). 100 cases (66.67%) obtained cured or basically recovered results, 21 cases (14.00%) improved, 4 cases (2.67%) deterioration and 5 cases (3.33%) died. It is imperative for practitioners to complete the patients' management and assessment before manipulation. That the practitioners conduct a detailed physical examination and make a correct diagnosis would be a pivot method of avoiding accidents. Excluding contraindications and potential risks, standardizing evaluation criteria and practitioners' qualification, increasing safety awareness and risk assessment and strengthening the monitoring of the accidents could decrease the incidence of accidents.

  5. Motorcycle accident cause factors and identification of countermeasures. Volume 1 : technical report

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1981-01-01

    This report presents the data and find~ings from the on-scene, in-depth : investigations of 900 motorcycle accidents and the analysis of 3600 traffic : accident reports of motorcycle accidents in the same study area. : Comprehensive data were collect...

  6. Differences in Characteristics of Aviation Accidents during 1993-2012 Based on Flight Purpose

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Evans, Joni K.

    2016-01-01

    Usually aviation accidents are categorized and analyzed within flight conduct rules (Part 121, Part 135, Part 91) because differences in accident rates within flight rules have been demonstrated. Even within a particular flight rule the flights have different purposes. For many, Part 121 flights are synonymous with scheduled passenger transport, and indeed this is the largest group of Part 121 accidents. But there are also non-scheduled (charter) passenger transport and cargo flights. The primary purpose of the analysis reported here is to examine the differences in aviation accidents based on the purpose of the flight. Some of the factors examined are the accident severity, aircraft characteristics and accident occurrence categories. Twenty consecutive years of data were available and utilized to complete this analysis.

  7. EBT reactor systems analysis and cost code: description and users guide (Version 1)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Santoro, R.T.; Uckan, N.A.; Barnes, J.M.

    1984-06-01

    An ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT) reactor systems analysis and cost code that incorporates the most recent advances in EBT physics has been written. The code determines a set of reactors that fall within an allowed operating window determined from the coupling of ring and core plasma properties and the self-consistent treatment of the coupled ring-core stability and power balance requirements. The essential elements of the systems analysis and cost code are described, along with the calculational sequences leading to the specification of the reactor options and their associated costs. The input parameters, the constraints imposed upon them, and the operatingmore » range over which the code provides valid results are discussed. A sample problem and the interpretation of the results are also presented.« less

  8. Measuring pedestrian volumes and conflicts. Volume 2, Accident prediction model

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1987-12-01

    This final report presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study conducted to model pedestrian/vehicle accidents. A group-type analysis approach for the prediction of pedestrian/vehicle accidents using pedestrian/vehicle conflic...

  9. Side differences in cerebrovascular accidents after cardiac surgery: a statistical analysis of neurologic symptoms and possible implications for anatomic mechanisms of aortic particle embolization.

    PubMed

    Boivie, Patrik; Edström, Cecilia; Engström, Karl Gunnar

    2005-03-01

    Aortic manipulation and particle embolization have been identified to cause cerebrovascular accidents in cardiac surgery. Recent data suggest that left-hemispheric cerebrovascular accident (right-sided symptoms) is more common, and this has been interpreted as being caused by aortic cannula stream jets. Our aim was to evaluate symptoms of cerebrovascular accident and side differences from a retrospective statistical analysis. During a 2-year period, 2641 consecutive cardiac surgery cases were analyzed. Patients positive for cerebrovascular accident were extracted from a database designed to monitor clinical symptoms. A protocol was used to confirm symptom data with the correct diagnosis in patient records. Patients were subdivided into 3 groups: control, immediate cerebrovascular accident, and delayed cerebrovascular accident. Among pooled patients, immediate and delayed cerebrovascular accidents were 3.0% and 0.9%, respectively. The expected predisposing factors behind immediate cerebrovascular accidents were significant, although the type of operation affected this search. Aortic quality was a strong predictor ( P < .001). The rate of delayed cerebrovascular accident was unaffected by surgery group. Left-sided symptoms of immediate cerebrovascular accident were approximately twice as frequent ( P = .016) as on the contralateral side. This phenomenon was observed for pooled patients and for isolated coronary bypass procedures (n = 1882; P = .025). Immediate cerebrovascular accident and aortic calcifications are linked. The predominance of left-sided symptoms may suggest that aortic manipulation and anatomic mechanisms in the aortic arch are more likely to cause cerebrovascular accidents than effects from cannula stream jets.

  10. Simplified diagnostic coding sheet for computerized data storage and analysis in ophthalmology.

    PubMed

    Tauber, J; Lahav, M

    1987-11-01

    A review of currently-available diagnostic coding systems revealed that most are either too abbreviated or too detailed. We have compiled a simplified diagnostic coding sheet based on the International Coding and Diagnosis (ICD-9), which is both complete and easy to use in a general practice. The information is transferred to a computer, which uses the relevant (ICD-9) diagnoses as database and can be retrieved later for display of patients' problems or analysis of clinical data.

  11. Promoter analysis reveals globally differential regulation of human long non-coding RNA and protein-coding genes

    DOE PAGES

    Alam, Tanvir; Medvedeva, Yulia A.; Jia, Hui; ...

    2014-10-02

    Transcriptional regulation of protein-coding genes is increasingly well-understood on a global scale, yet no comparable information exists for long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, which were recently recognized to be as numerous as protein-coding genes in mammalian genomes. We performed a genome-wide comparative analysis of the promoters of human lncRNA and protein-coding genes, finding global differences in specific genetic and epigenetic features relevant to transcriptional regulation. These two groups of genes are hence subject to separate transcriptional regulatory programs, including distinct transcription factor (TF) proteins that significantly favor lncRNA, rather than coding-gene, promoters. We report a specific signature of promoter-proximal transcriptionalmore » regulation of lncRNA genes, including several distinct transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Experimental DNase I hypersensitive site profiles are consistent with active configurations of these lncRNA TFBS sets in diverse human cell types. TFBS ChIP-seq datasets confirm the binding events that we predicted using computational approaches for a subset of factors. For several TFs known to be directly regulated by lncRNAs, we find that their putative TFBSs are enriched at lncRNA promoters, suggesting that the TFs and the lncRNAs may participate in a bidirectional feedback loop regulatory network. Accordingly, cells may be able to modulate lncRNA expression levels independently of mRNA levels via distinct regulatory pathways. Our results also raise the possibility that, given the historical reliance on protein-coding gene catalogs to define the chromatin states of active promoters, a revision of these chromatin signature profiles to incorporate expressed lncRNA genes is warranted in the future.« less

  12. Promoter analysis reveals globally differential regulation of human long non-coding RNA and protein-coding genes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Alam, Tanvir; Medvedeva, Yulia A.; Jia, Hui

    Transcriptional regulation of protein-coding genes is increasingly well-understood on a global scale, yet no comparable information exists for long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, which were recently recognized to be as numerous as protein-coding genes in mammalian genomes. We performed a genome-wide comparative analysis of the promoters of human lncRNA and protein-coding genes, finding global differences in specific genetic and epigenetic features relevant to transcriptional regulation. These two groups of genes are hence subject to separate transcriptional regulatory programs, including distinct transcription factor (TF) proteins that significantly favor lncRNA, rather than coding-gene, promoters. We report a specific signature of promoter-proximal transcriptionalmore » regulation of lncRNA genes, including several distinct transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Experimental DNase I hypersensitive site profiles are consistent with active configurations of these lncRNA TFBS sets in diverse human cell types. TFBS ChIP-seq datasets confirm the binding events that we predicted using computational approaches for a subset of factors. For several TFs known to be directly regulated by lncRNAs, we find that their putative TFBSs are enriched at lncRNA promoters, suggesting that the TFs and the lncRNAs may participate in a bidirectional feedback loop regulatory network. Accordingly, cells may be able to modulate lncRNA expression levels independently of mRNA levels via distinct regulatory pathways. Our results also raise the possibility that, given the historical reliance on protein-coding gene catalogs to define the chromatin states of active promoters, a revision of these chromatin signature profiles to incorporate expressed lncRNA genes is warranted in the future.« less

  13. Parametric and experimentally informed BWR Severe Accident Analysis Utilizing FeCrAl - M3FT-17OR020205041

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ott, Larry J.; Howell, Michael; Robb, Kevin R.

    Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered as advanced fuel cladding concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. At high temperatures, FeCrAl alloys have slower oxidation kinetics and higher strength compared with zirconium-based alloys. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding and spacer or mixing vane grids in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). There is a need to assess the potential gains afforded by the FeCrAl accident-tolerant-fuel (ATF) concept over the existing zirconium-based materials employed today. To accurately assess the response of FeCrAl alloys under severe accident conditions, a number of FeCrAl properties and characteristicsmore » are required. These include thermophysical properties as well as burst characteristics, oxidation kinetics, possible eutectic interactions, and failure temperatures. These properties can vary among different FeCrAl alloys. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has pursued refined values for the oxidation kinetics of the B136Y FeCrAl alloy (Fe-13Cr-6Al wt %). This investigation included oxidation tests with varying heating rates and end-point temperatures in a steam environment. The rate constant for the low-temperature oxidation kinetics was found to be higher than that for the commercial APMT FeCrAl alloy (Fe-21Cr-5Al-3Mo wt %). Compared with APMT, a 5 times higher rate constant best predicted the entire dataset (root mean square deviation). Based on tests following heating rates comparable with those the cladding would experience during a station blackout, the transition to higher oxidation kinetics occurs at approximately 1,500°C. A parametric study varying the low-temperature FeCrAl oxidation kinetics was conducted for a BWR plant using FeCrAl fuel cladding and channel boxes using the MELCOR code. A range of station blackout severe accident scenarios were simulated for a BWR/4 reactor with Mark I containment. Increasing the FeCrAl low-temperature oxidation

  14. Risk factors of fatal occupational accidents in Iran.

    PubMed

    Asady, Hadi; Yaseri, Mehdi; Hosseini, Mostafa; Zarif-Yeganeh, Morvarid; Yousefifard, Mahmoud; Haghshenas, Mahin; Hajizadeh-Moghadam, Parisa

    2018-01-01

    Occupational accidents are of most important consequences of globalization in developing countries. Therefore, investigating the causes of occupational accidents for improving the job situation and making operational policy is necessary. So the aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the fatal occupational accidents and also calculate the years of life lost for dead workers. This cross-sectional study was conducted on data related to the 6052 injured workers that was registered in the 2013 registry system of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Variables including sex, education, age, job tenure, injury cause, referred location of injured workers, occupation, shift work, season, accident day, damaged part of the body were chosen as independent variables. The Chi-squared and Fisher exact tests were used for univariate analysis and then exact multiple logistic regression was carried out to identify independent risk factors of fatal occupational accidents. Finally, for dead workers, years of life lost, according to the injury causes was calculated. Among the 6052 accidents reported, 33 deaths were recorded. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests showed that factors including: current job tenure ( p  = 0.01), damaged parts of the body ( p  < 0.001) and injury cause ( p  < 0.001) are associated with the fatal accidents. Also exact multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between electric shocks as a cause of injury (OR = 7.04; 95% CI: 1.01-43.74; p  = 0.02) and current job tenure more than 1 year (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05-0.70; p  = 0.005) with the fatal accidents. The total amount of years of life lost based on causes of injuries was estimated 1289.12 years. In Iran, fatal accident odds in workers with job tenure more than 1 year was less in comparing to the workers with job tenure less and equal to 1 year. Also odd of death for electrical shock was more than other causes of injuries. So it seems

  15. Traffic Analysis and Road Accidents: A Case Study of Hyderabad using GIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhagyaiah, M.; Shrinagesh, B.

    2014-06-01

    Globalization has impacted many developing countries across the world. India is one such country, which benefited the most. Increased, economic activity raised the consumption levels of the people across the country. This created scope for increase in travel and transportation. The increase in the vehicles since last 10 years has put lot of pressure on the existing roads and ultimately resulting in road accidents. It is estimated that since 2001 there is an increase of 202 percent of two wheeler and 286 percent of four wheeler vehicles with no road expansion. Motor vehicle crashes are a common cause of death, disability and demand for emergency medical care. Globally, more than 1 million people die each year from traffic crashes and about 20-50 million are injured or permanently disabled. There has been increasing trend in road accidents in Hyderabad over a few years. GIS helps in locating the accident hotspots and also in analyzing the trend of road accidents in Hyderabad.

  16. U.S. Civil Rotorcraft Accidents, 1963 Through 1997

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harris, Franklin D.; Kasper, Eugene F.; Iseler, Laura E.

    2000-01-01

    Narrative summary data produced by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been obtained and analyzed for all 8,436 U.S. civil registered rotorcraft accidents which occurred from mid-1963 through 1997. This analysis was based on the NTSB's assignment of each mishap into one of 21 "first event" categories. The number of U.S. civil registered rotorcraft as recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the same period has also been obtained. Taken together, these data indicate the civil rotorcraft accident rate (on a per 1,000 registered rotorcraft basis) has decreased by almost a factor of 10 (i.e., from 130 accidents per 1,000 rotorcraft in 1964 to 13.4 per 1,000 in 1997). Analysis of the mishap data indicates over 70% of the rotorcraft accidents were associated with one of the following four NTSB "first event" categories: 2408 Loss of engine power (28.5%); 1,322 In-flight collisions with objects (15.7%); 1,114 Loss of control (13.2%); 1,083 Airframe/component/system failure or malfunction (12.8%).

  17. Latent profile analysis of lifestyle characteristics and health risk behaviors among Koreans who have completed industrial accident care.

    PubMed

    Choi, Wan-Suk; Moon, Ok-Kon; Yeum, Dong-Moon

    2017-10-07

    This study investigated the characteristics and health behavior profiles of 1,803 workers who had experienced industrial accidents. Average weekly exercise days, average number of cigarettes smoked per day, average daily sleep duration, and number of days of alcohol consumption were selected to investigate health behavior profiles. Specifically, latent profile analysis was applied to identify the health behavior profiles of people who had completed industrial accident care; the latent classes were the health-conscious type (n=240), the potential-risk type (n=850), and the high-risk type (n=713). Comparison of the health-conscious and potential-risk types indicated that younger subjects, the employed, and those with lower social status and life satisfaction were more likely to be the potential-risk type. Comparison of the health-conscious and high-risk types revealed that males, younger subjects, the employed, those without chronic illnesses, and those with lower social status and life satisfaction were more likely to be the high-risk type. The results suggest that industrial accident victims who have completed accident care have different health behaviors and it is necessary to improve health promotion based on health type characteristics.

  18. Associations between task, training and social environmental factors and error types involved in rail incidents and accidents.

    PubMed

    Read, Gemma J M; Lenné, Michael G; Moss, Simon A

    2012-09-01

    Rail accidents can be understood in terms of the systemic and individual contributions to their causation. The current study was undertaken to determine whether errors and violations are more often associated with different local and organisational factors that contribute to rail accidents. The Contributing Factors Framework (CFF), a tool developed for the collection and codification of data regarding rail accidents and incidents, was applied to a sample of investigation reports. In addition, a more detailed categorisation of errors was undertaken. Ninety-six investigation reports into Australian accidents and incidents occurring between 1999 and 2008 were analysed. Each report was coded independently by two experienced coders. Task demand factors were significantly more often associated with skill-based errors, knowledge and training deficiencies significantly associated with mistakes, and violations significantly linked to social environmental factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. An epidemiologic survey of road traffic accidents in Iran: analysis of driver-related factors.

    PubMed

    Moafian, Ghasem; Aghabeigi, Mohammad-Reza; Heydari, Seyed Taghi; Hoseinzadeh, Amin; Lankarani, Kamran Bagheri; Sarikhani, Yaser

    2013-01-01

    Road traffic accident (RTA) and its related injuries contribute to a significant portion of the burden of diseases in Iran. This paper explores the association between driver-related factors and RTA in the country. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran and all data regarding RTAs from March 20, 2010 to June 10, 2010 were obtained from the Traffic Police Department. We included 538 588 RTA records, which were classified to control for the main confounders: accident type, final cause of accident, time of accident and driver-related factors. Driver-related factors included sex, educational level, license type, type of injury, duration between accident and getting the driving license and driver's error type. A total of 538 588 drivers (91.83% male, sex ratio of almost 13:1) were involved in the RTAs. Among them 423 932 (78.71%) were uninjured; 224 818 (41.74%) had a diploma degree. Grade 2 driving license represented the highest proportion of all driving licenses (290 811, 54.00%). The greatest number of accidents took place at 12:00-13:59 (75 024, 13.93%). The proportion of drivers involved in RTAs decreased from 15.90% in the first year of getting a driving license to 3.13% after 10 years'of driving experience. Neglect of regulations was the commonest cause of traffic crashes (345 589, 64.17%). Non-observance of priority and inattention to the front were the most frequent final causes of death (138 175, 25.66% and 129 352, 24.02%, respectively). We found significant association between type of accident and sex, education, license type, time of accident, final cause of accident, driver's error as well as duration between accident and getting the driving license (all P less than 0.001). Our results will improve the traffic law enforcement measures, which will change inappropriate behavior of drivers and protect the least experienced road users.

  20. Computer code for preliminary sizing analysis of axial-flow turbines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glassman, Arthur J.

    1992-01-01

    This mean diameter flow analysis uses a stage average velocity diagram as the basis for the computational efficiency. Input design requirements include power or pressure ratio, flow rate, temperature, pressure, and rotative speed. Turbine designs are generated for any specified number of stages and for any of three types of velocity diagrams (symmetrical, zero exit swirl, or impulse) or for any specified stage swirl split. Exit turning vanes can be included in the design. The program output includes inlet and exit annulus dimensions, exit temperature and pressure, total and static efficiencies, flow angles, and last stage absolute and relative Mach numbers. An analysis is presented along with a description of the computer program input and output with sample cases. The analysis and code presented herein are modifications of those described in NASA-TN-D-6702. These modifications improve modeling rigor and extend code applicability.

  1. Nuclear thermal propulsion engine system design analysis code development

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pelaccio, Dennis G.; Scheil, Christine M.; Petrosky, Lyman J.; Ivanenok, Joseph F.

    1992-01-01

    A Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Engine System Design Analyis Code has recently been developed to characterize key NTP engine system design features. Such a versatile, standalone NTP system performance and engine design code is required to support ongoing and future engine system and vehicle design efforts associated with proposed Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) missions of interest. Key areas of interest in the engine system modeling effort were the reactor, shielding, and inclusion of an engine multi-redundant propellant pump feed system design option. A solid-core nuclear thermal reactor and internal shielding code model was developed to estimate the reactor's thermal-hydraulic and physical parameters based on a prescribed thermal output which was integrated into a state-of-the-art engine system design model. The reactor code module has the capability to model graphite, composite, or carbide fuels. Key output from the model consists of reactor parameters such as thermal power, pressure drop, thermal profile, and heat generation in cooled structures (reflector, shield, and core supports), as well as the engine system parameters such as weight, dimensions, pressures, temperatures, mass flows, and performance. The model's overall analysis methodology and its key assumptions and capabilities are summarized in this paper.

  2. LSENS, a general chemical kinetics and sensitivity analysis code for homogeneous gas-phase reactions. 2: Code description and usage

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Radhakrishnan, Krishnan; Bittker, David A.

    1994-01-01

    LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part 2 of a series of three reference publications that describe LSENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part 2 describes the code, how to modify it, and its usage, including preparation of the problem data file required to execute LSENS. Code usage is illustrated by several example problems, which further explain preparation of the problem data file and show how to obtain desired accuracy in the computed results. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions. Part 1 (NASA RP-1328) derives the governing equations describes the numerical solution procedures for the types of problems that can be solved by lSENS. Part 3 (NASA RP-1330) explains the kinetics and kinetics-plus-sensitivity-analysis problems supplied with LSENS and presents sample results.

  3. Accidents in the greenhouse-construction industry of SE Spain.

    PubMed

    Pérez-Alonso, José; Carreño-Ortega, Angel; Vázquez-Cabrera, Fernando J; Callejón-Ferre, Angel Jesús

    2012-01-01

    This work analyses the labour accidents in the greenhouse-construction industry of SE Spain for the period 1999-2007 through a sample of 180 accident reports. The accidents were characterised by studying 5 variables in order to know the day of the week in which the accident occurred, the hour of the day of the accident, type of accident, the region of Spain in which the accident happened, and the resulting injury. The data characterising the accidents were submitted to a descriptive multiple-correspondence analysis. The incidence of accidents in the greenhouse-construction industry presented a high mean value of 15133.7 per 100,000 workers per year. The days with the greatest incidence of accidents were Thursday and Monday, while the period of greatest number of accidents occurred in the first 4h of the workday. No significant correspondence was found between the day of the week, the hour of the day, or any of the other 3 variables studied. The types of accidents with most frequency were: cuts, punctures, contact with hard or rough material, overexertion, and falls from one level to another. The most affected parts of the anatomy were the eyes, thorax, back, sides, lower legs, and feet. The most common types of injury were bone fractures, twists and sprains, distended muscles, contusions, and being crushed. The study calls attention to the high number of accidents at work, which needs to be corrected by fulfilment of safety regulations at work, on the part of the company. Finally, recommendations are made to correct this situation of high number of accidents at work. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  4. Stand-alone containment analysis of Phébus FPT tests with ASTEC and MELCOR codes: the FPT-2 test.

    PubMed

    Gonfiotti, Bruno; Paci, Sandro

    2018-03-01

    During the last 40 years, many studies have been carried out to investigate the different phenomena occurring during a Severe Accident (SA) in a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Such efforts have been supported by the execution of different experimental campaigns, and the integral Phébus FP tests were probably some of the most important experiments in this field. In these tests, the degradation of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) fuel bundle was investigated employing different control rod materials and burn-up levels in strongly or weakly oxidizing conditions. From the findings on these and previous tests, numerical codes such as ASTEC and MELCOR have been developed to analyze the evolution of a SA in real NPPs. After the termination of the Phébus FP campaign, these two codes have been furthermore improved to implement the more recent findings coming from different experimental campaigns. Therefore, continuous verification and validation is still necessary to check that the new improvements introduced in such codes allow also a better prediction of these Phébus tests. The aim of the present work is to re-analyze the Phébus FPT-2 test employing the updated ASTEC and MELCOR code versions. The analysis focuses on the stand-alone containment aspects of this test, and three different spatial nodalizations of the containment vessel (CV) have been developed. The paper summarizes the main thermal-hydraulic results and presents different sensitivity analyses carried out on the aerosols and fission products (FP) behavior. When possible, a comparison among the results obtained during this work and by different authors in previous work is also performed. This paper is part of a series of publications covering the four Phébus FP tests using a PWR fuel bundle: FPT-0, FPT-1, FPT-2, and FPT-3, excluding the FPT-4 one, related to the study of the release of low-volatility FP and transuranic elements from a debris bed and a pool of melted fuel.

  5. A Content Analysis of News Media Coverage of the Accident at Three Mile Island.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Mitchell; Edison, Nadyne G.

    A study was conducted for the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island to analyze coverage of the accident by ten news organizations: two wire services, three commercial television networks, and five daily newspapers. Copies of all stories and transcripts of news programs during the first week of the accident were examined from…

  6. Natural Circulation Level Optimization and the Effect during ULOF Accident in the SPINNOR Reactors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdullah, Ade Gafar; Su'ud, Zaki; Kurniadi, Rizal; Kurniasih, Neny; Yulianti, Yanti

    2010-12-01

    Natural circulation level optimization and the effect during loss of flow accident in the 250 MWt MOX fuelled small Pb-Bi Cooled non-refueling nuclear reactors (SPINNOR) have been performed. The simulation was performed using FI-ITB safety code which has been developed in ITB. The simulation begins with steady state calculation of neutron flux, power distribution and temperature distribution across the core, hot pool and cool pool, and also steam generator. When the accident is started due to the loss of pumping power the power distribution and the temperature distribution of core, hot pool and cool pool, and steam generator change. Then the feedback reactivity calculation is conducted, followed by kinetic calculation. The process is repeated until the optimum power distribution is achieved. The results show that the SPINNOR reactor has inherent safety capability against this accident.

  7. [Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident and Tokaimura criticality accident].

    PubMed

    Takada, Jun

    2012-03-01

    It is clear from inspection of historical incidents that the scale of disasters in a nuclear power plant accident is quite low level overwhelmingly compared with a nuclear explosion in nuclear war. Two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by nuclear blast with about 20 kt TNT equivalent and then approximately 100,000 people have died respectively. On the other hand, the number of acute death is 30 in the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. In this chapter, we review health hazards and doses in two historical nuclear incidents of Chernobyl and Tokaimura criticality accident and then understand the feature of the radiation accident in peaceful utilization of nuclear power.

  8. Thermal-hydraulic analysis of N Reactor graphite and shield cooling system performance

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Low, J.O.; Schmitt, B.E.

    1988-02-01

    A series of bounding (worst-case) calculations were performed using a detailed hydrodynamic RELAP5 model of the N Reactor graphite and shield cooling system (GSCS). These calculations were specifically aimed to answer issues raised by the Westinghouse Independent Safety Review (WISR) committee. These questions address the operability of the GSCS during a worst-case degraded-core accident that requires the GDCS to mitigate the consequences of the accident. An accident scenario previously developed was designed as the hydrogen-mitigation design-basis accident (HMDBA). Previous HMDBA heat transfer analysis,, using the TRUMP-BD code, was used to define the thermal boundary conditions that the GSDS may bemore » exposed to. These TRUMP/HMDBA analysis results were used to define the bounding operating conditions of the GSCS during the course of an HMDBA transient. Nominal and degraded GSCS scenarios were investigated using RELAP5 within or at the bounds of the HMDBA transient. 10 refs., 42 figs., 10 tabs.« less

  9. Meanline Analysis of Turbines with Choked Flow in the Object-Oriented Turbomachinery Analysis Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hendricks, Eric S.

    2016-01-01

    The prediction of turbomachinery performance characteristics is an important part of the conceptual aircraft engine design process. During this phase, the designer must examine the effects of a large number of turbomachinery design parameters to determine their impact on overall engine performance and weight. The lack of detailed design information available in this phase necessitates the use of simpler meanline and streamline methods to determine the turbomachinery geometry characteristics and provide performance estimates prior to more detailed CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analyses. While a number of analysis codes have been developed for this purpose, most are written in outdated software languages and may be difficult or impossible to apply to new, unconventional designs. The Object-Oriented Turbomachinery Analysis Code (OTAC) is currently being developed at NASA Glenn Research Center to provide a flexible meanline and streamline analysis capability in a modern object-oriented language. During the development and validation of OTAC, a limitation was identified in the code's ability to analyze and converge turbines as the flow approached choking. This paper describes a series of changes which can be made to typical OTAC turbine meanline models to enable the assessment of choked flow up to limit load conditions. Results produced with this revised model setup are provided in the form of turbine performance maps and are compared to published maps.

  10. Analysis of general-aviation accidents using ATC radar records

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wingrove, R. C.; Bach, R. E., Jr.

    1982-01-01

    It is pointed out that general aviation aircraft usually do not carry flight recorders, and in accident investigations the only available data may come from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) records. A description is presented of a technique for deriving time-histories of aircraft motions from ATC radar records. The employed procedure involves a smoothing of the raw radar data. The smoothed results, in combination with other available information (meteorological data and aircraft aerodynamic data) are used to derive the expanded set of motion time-histories. Applications of the considered analytical methods are related to different types of aircraft, such as light piston-props, executive jets, and commuter turboprops, as well as different accident situations, such as takeoff, climb-out, icing, and deep stall.

  11. Epidemiology of Accidents in Tile Factories of Mangalore City in Karnataka

    PubMed Central

    Kumar, S Ganesh; Rathnakar, UP; Harsha Kumar, HN

    2010-01-01

    Background: Occupational accidents are a major point of concern in industries. The academic community should take the first step to address the long-neglected concerns of occupational safety. Objective: To assess the prevalence and pattern of occupational accidents. Materials and Methods: A record-based, cross-sectional study was done in three tile factories of Mangalore city, in Karnataka. A total of 416 workers were analyzed for the year 2004, and data regarding age, sex, job duration, type and nature of injury, body parts involved, and time of injury were collected in a prestructured proforma. Statistical Analysis: Proportions, Chi-square test, Univariate and Multivariate analysis. Results: The overall prevalence rate of accidents was found to be 18.5%. It was found that almost around 86% of the accidents had affected the limbs (upper limb 24.7%, lower limb 61%), around half (52%) of the injuries were contributed by superficial injuries, 40% of accidents were due to stepping/striking against objects and while handling. Hand tools and machinery in motion contributed to around 20% of the accidents. Accidents were more common among the younger age group and less-experienced workers. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the age group of 30-39 years had an independent significant association with accidents (OR = 0.21, P = 0.04). Conclusion: Accidents in tile industries are an important occupational health problem in this area of the country. There is a need for proper safety training of the workers. PMID:20606926

  12. [Analysis of the death cases in the urban rail traffic accident in Shanghai].

    PubMed

    Hu, Yi-Ping; Cao, Yu; Ma, Kai-Jun

    2009-06-01

    To analyze the features of death cases in the urban rail traffic accidents in order to prevent the similar accidents in the future and to provide reference for forensic expertise. Eighteen death cases in urban rail traffic accidents between 2005 to 2008 in Shanghai were collected. The forensic characteristics were summarized in aspects of the nature of cases, the injury mechanism and characteristics, etc. There were total 18 cases with 14 suicide and 4 accidental incidents, aged from 21 to 55 years. Of those dead, 14 died of craniocerebral injury and 4 died of traumatic shock. The injury mechanism included hit, fall and rolling. The injury in urban rail traffic accidents have their own characteristics, mainly due to suicide, and partly due to accidental incident, and most of these cases are probably preventable.

  13. Structural design, analysis, and code evaluation of an odd-shaped pressure vessel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rezvani, M. A.; Ziada, H. H.

    1992-12-01

    An effort to design, analyze, and evaluate a rectangular pressure vessel is described. Normally pressure vessels are designed in circular or spherical shapes to prevent stress concentrations. In this case, because of operational limitations, the choice of vessels was limited to a rectangular pressure box with a removable cover plate. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is used as a guideline for pressure containments whose width or depth exceeds 15.24 cm (6.0 in.) and where pressures will exceed 103.4 KPa (15.0 lbf/in(sup 2)). This evaluation used Section 8 of this Code, hereafter referred to as the Code. The dimensions and working pressure of the subject vessel fall within the pressure vessel category of the Code. The Code design guidelines and rules do not directly apply to this vessel. Therefore, finite-element methodology was used to analyze the pressure vessel, and the Code then was used in qualifying the vessel to be stamped to the Code. Section 8, Division 1 of the Code was used for evaluation. This action was justified by selecting a material for which fatigue damage would not be a concern. The stress analysis results were then checked against the Code, and the thicknesses adjusted to satisfy Code requirements. Although not directly applicable, the Code design formulas for rectangular vessels were also considered and presented.

  14. Analysis of Surface Water Pollution Accidents in China: Characteristics and Lessons for Risk Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, Hong; Zhang, Tongzhu; Liu, Bo; Lu, Feng; Fang, Shurong; You, Zhen

    2016-04-01

    Understanding historical accidents is important for accident prevention and risk mitigation; however, there are no public databases of pollution accidents in China, and no detailed information regarding such incidents is readily available. Thus, 653 representative cases of surface water pollution accidents in China were identified and described as a function of time, location, materials involved, origin, and causes. The severity and other features of the accidents, frequency and quantities of chemicals involved, frequency and number of people poisoned, frequency and number of people affected, frequency and time for which pollution lasted, and frequency and length of pollution zone were effectively used to value and estimate the accumulated probabilities. The probabilities of occurrences of various types based on origin and causes were also summarized based on these observations. The following conclusions can be drawn from these analyses: (1) There was a high proportion of accidents involving multi-district boundary regions and drinking water crises, indicating that more attention should be paid to environmental risk prevention and the mitigation of such incidents. (2) A high proportion of accidents originated from small-sized chemical plants, indicating that these types of enterprises should be considered during policy making. (3) The most common cause (49.8 % of the total) was intentional acts (illegal discharge); accordingly, efforts to increase environmental consciousness in China should be enhanced.

  15. Analysis of Surface Water Pollution Accidents in China: Characteristics and Lessons for Risk Management.

    PubMed

    Yao, Hong; Zhang, Tongzhu; Liu, Bo; Lu, Feng; Fang, Shurong; You, Zhen

    2016-04-01

    Understanding historical accidents is important for accident prevention and risk mitigation; however, there are no public databases of pollution accidents in China, and no detailed information regarding such incidents is readily available. Thus, 653 representative cases of surface water pollution accidents in China were identified and described as a function of time, location, materials involved, origin, and causes. The severity and other features of the accidents, frequency and quantities of chemicals involved, frequency and number of people poisoned, frequency and number of people affected, frequency and time for which pollution lasted, and frequency and length of pollution zone were effectively used to value and estimate the accumulated probabilities. The probabilities of occurrences of various types based on origin and causes were also summarized based on these observations. The following conclusions can be drawn from these analyses: (1) There was a high proportion of accidents involving multi-district boundary regions and drinking water crises, indicating that more attention should be paid to environmental risk prevention and the mitigation of such incidents. (2) A high proportion of accidents originated from small-sized chemical plants, indicating that these types of enterprises should be considered during policy making. (3) The most common cause (49.8% of the total) was intentional acts (illegal discharge); accordingly, efforts to increase environmental consciousness in China should be enhanced.

  16. Development of the FHR advanced natural circulation analysis code and application to FHR safety analysis

    DOE PAGES

    Guo, Z.; Zweibaum, N.; Shao, M.; ...

    2016-04-19

    The University of California, Berkeley (UCB) is performing thermal hydraulics safety analysis to develop the technical basis for design and licensing of fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactors (FHRs). FHR designs investigated by UCB use natural circulation for emergency, passive decay heat removal when normal decay heat removal systems fail. The FHR advanced natural circulation analysis (FANCY) code has been developed for assessment of passive decay heat removal capability and safety analysis of these innovative system designs. The FANCY code uses a one-dimensional, semi-implicit scheme to solve for pressure-linked mass, momentum and energy conservation equations. Graph theory is used to automatically generate amore » staggered mesh for complicated pipe network systems. Heat structure models have been implemented for three types of boundary conditions (Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary conditions). Heat structures can be composed of several layers of different materials, and are used for simulation of heat structure temperature distribution and heat transfer rate. Control models are used to simulate sequences of events or trips of safety systems. A proportional-integral controller is also used to automatically make thermal hydraulic systems reach desired steady state conditions. A point kinetics model is used to model reactor kinetics behavior with temperature reactivity feedback. The underlying large sparse linear systems in these models are efficiently solved by using direct and iterative solvers provided by the SuperLU code on high performance machines. Input interfaces are designed to increase the flexibility of simulation for complicated thermal hydraulic systems. In conclusion, this paper mainly focuses on the methodology used to develop the FANCY code, and safety analysis of the Mark 1 pebble-bed FHR under development at UCB is performed.« less

  17. Motorcycle accident cause factors and identification of countermeasures. Volume 2 : appendix/supplemental data

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1981-01-01

    This report presents the data and findings from the on-scene, in-depth : investigations of 900 motorcycle accidents and the analysis of 3600 traffic : accident reports of motorcycle accidents in the same study area. : Comprehensive data were collecte...

  18. Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Quantification for the LAMMPS Molecular Dynamics Simulation Code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Picard, Richard Roy; Bhat, Kabekode Ghanasham

    2017-07-18

    We examine sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification for molecular dynamics simulation. Extreme (large or small) output values for the LAMMPS code often occur at the boundaries of input regions, and uncertainties in those boundary values are overlooked by common SA methods. Similarly, input values for which code outputs are consistent with calibration data can also occur near boundaries. Upon applying approaches in the literature for imprecise probabilities (IPs), much more realistic results are obtained than for the complacent application of standard SA and code calibration.

  19. World commercial aircraft accidents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kimura, C.Y.

    1993-01-01

    This report is a compilation of all accidents world-wide involving aircraft in commercial service which resulted in the loss of the airframe or one or more fatality, or both. This information has been gathered in order to present a complete inventory of commercial aircraft accidents. Events involving military action, sabotage, terrorist bombings, hijackings, suicides, and industrial ground accidents are included within this list. Included are: accidents involving world commercial jet aircraft, world commercial turboprop aircraft, world commercial pistonprop aircraft with four or more engines and world commercial pistonprop aircraft with two or three engines from 1946 to 1992. Each accidentmore » is presented with information in the following categories: date of the accident, airline and its flight numbers, type of flight, type of aircraft, aircraft registration number, construction number/manufacturers serial number, aircraft damage, accident flight phase, accident location, number of fatalities, number of occupants, cause, remarks, or description (brief) of the accident, and finally references used. The sixth chapter presents a summary of the world commercial aircraft accidents by major aircraft class (e.g. jet, turboprop, and pistonprop) and by flight phase. The seventh chapter presents several special studies including a list of world commercial aircraft accidents for all aircraft types with 100 or more fatalities in order of decreasing number of fatalities, a list of collision accidents involving commercial aircrafts, and a list of world commercial aircraft accidents for all aircraft types involving military action, sabotage, terrorist bombings, and hijackings.« less

  20. Evaluation of radiological dispersion/consequence codes supporting DOE nuclear facility SARs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    O`Kula, K.R.; Paik, I.K.; Chung, D.Y.

    1996-12-31

    Since the early 1990s, the authorization basis documentation of many U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities has been upgraded to comply with DOE orders and standards. In this process, many safety analyses have been revised. Unfortunately, there has been nonuniform application of software, and the most appropriate computer and engineering methodologies often are not applied. A DOE Accident Phenomenology and Consequence (APAC) Methodology Evaluation Program was originated at the request of DOE Defense Programs to evaluate the safety analysis methodologies used in nuclear facility authorization basis documentation and to define future cost-effective support and development initiatives. Six areas, includingmore » source term development (fire, spills, and explosion analysis), in-facility transport, and dispersion/ consequence analysis (chemical and radiological) are contained in the APAC program. The evaluation process, codes considered, key results, and recommendations for future model and software development of the Radiological Dispersion/Consequence Working Group are summarized in this paper.« less

  1. [Mechanism of pelvic girdle injuries in street traffic. Medical-technical accident analysis].

    PubMed

    Pohlemann, T; Richter, M; Otte, D; Gänsslen, A; Bartram, H; Tscherne, H

    2000-04-01

    During 1985 and 1993, 7,410 persons were injured in traffic accidents in the area of Hanover. Of these, 306 (4.1%) sustained a pelvic girdle injury. In 139 cases (45%), the pelvic girdle injuries were further classified (Pennal and Tile) and a technical reconstruction of the accident situation was performed. 52% were type A, 27% type B and 21% type C injuries. Some 47% of the casualties were vehicle occupants, 31% pedestrians, 12% motorcyclists and 10% cyclists. In restrained vehicle occupants pelvic girdle injuries occurred mostly in accidents with a delta-v of more than 30 km/h, whereas in unrestrained vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists they also occurred with lower delta-v or collision speed. The percentage of type B and C injuries increased with higher velocities. In addition to further improvements in passive safety, lower collision speed or delta-v is necessary to reduce or prevent pelvic girdle injuries. The reconstruction of pelvic girdle injury mechanism in traffic accidents is possible, when both technical and medical parameters are considered.

  2. SCAP: a new methodology for safety management based on feedback from credible accident-probabilistic fault tree analysis system.

    PubMed

    Khan, F I; Iqbal, A; Ramesh, N; Abbasi, S A

    2001-10-12

    As it is conventionally done, strategies for incorporating accident--prevention measures in any hazardous chemical process industry are developed on the basis of input from risk assessment. However, the two steps-- risk assessment and hazard reduction (or safety) measures--are not linked interactively in the existing methodologies. This prevents a quantitative assessment of the impacts of safety measures on risk control. We have made an attempt to develop a methodology in which risk assessment steps are interactively linked with implementation of safety measures. The resultant system tells us the extent of reduction of risk by each successive safety measure. It also tells based on sophisticated maximum credible accident analysis (MCAA) and probabilistic fault tree analysis (PFTA) whether a given unit can ever be made 'safe'. The application of the methodology has been illustrated with a case study.

  3. Comparative analysis of design codes for timber bridges in Canada, the United States, and Europe

    Treesearch

    James Wacker; James (Scott) Groenier

    2010-01-01

    The United States recently completed its transition from the allowable stress design code to the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) reliability-based code for the design of most highway bridges. For an international perspective on the LRFD-based bridge codes, a comparative analysis is presented: a study addressed national codes of the United States, Canada, and...

  4. Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation.

    PubMed

    Buck, Ursula; Naether, Silvio; Braun, Marcel; Bolliger, Stephan; Friederich, Hans; Jackowski, Christian; Aghayev, Emin; Christe, Andreas; Vock, Peter; Dirnhofer, Richard; Thali, Michael J

    2007-07-20

    The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.

  5. Biomechanical analysis of occupant kinematics in rollover motor vehicle accidents: dynamic spit test.

    PubMed

    Sances, Anthony; Kumaresan, Srirangam; Clarke, Richard; Herbst, Brian; Meyer, Steve

    2005-01-01

    A better understanding of occupant kinematics in rollover accidents helps to advance biomechanical knowledge and to enhance the safety features of motor vehicles. While many rollover accident simulation studies have adopted the static approach to delineate the occupant kinematics in rollover accidents, very few studies have attempted the dynamic approach. The present work was designed to study the biomechanics of restrained occupants during rollover accidents using the steady-state dynamic spit test and to address the importance of keeping the lap belt fastened. Experimental tests were conducted using an anthropometric 50% Hybrid III dummy in a vehicle. The vehicle was rotated at 180 degrees/second and the dummy was restrained using a standard three-point restraint system. The lap belt of the dummy was fastened either by using the cinching latch plate or by locking the retractor. Three configurations of shoulder belt harness were simulated: shoulder belt loose on chest with cinch plate, shoulder belt under the left arm and shoulder belt behind the chest. In all tests, the dummy stayed within the confinement of the vehicle indicating that the securely fastened lap belt holds the dummy with dynamic movement of 3 1/2" to 4". The results show that occupant movement in rollover accidents is least affected by various shoulder harness positions with a securely fastened lap belt. The present study forms a first step in delineating the biomechanics of occupants in rollover accidents.

  6. A Comprehensive Analysis of the X-15 Flight 3-65 Accident

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dennehy, Cornelius J.; Orr, Jeb S.; Barshi, Immanuel; Statler, Irving C.

    2014-01-01

    The November 15, 1967, loss of X-15 Flight 3-65-97 (hereafter referred to as Flight 3-65) was a unique incident in that it was the first and only aerospace flight accident involving loss of crew on a vehicle with an adaptive flight control system (AFCS). In addition, Flight 3-65 remains the only incidence of a single-pilot departure from controlled flight of a manned entry vehicle in a hypersonic flight regime. To mitigate risk to emerging aerospace systems, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) proposed a comprehensive review of this accident. The goal of the assessment was to resolve lingering questions regarding the failure modes of the aircraft systems (including the AFCS) and thoroughly analyze the interactions among the human agents and autonomous systems that contributed to the loss of the pilot and aircraft. This document contains the outcome of the accident review.

  7. A Longitudinal Analysis of the Causal Factors in Major Maritime Accidents in the USA and Canada (1996-2006)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, C. W.; Holloway, C, M.

    2007-01-01

    Accident reports provide important insights into the causes and contributory factors leading to particular adverse events. In contrast, this paper provides an analysis that extends across the findings presented over ten years investigations into maritime accidents by both the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB). The purpose of the study was to assess the comparative frequency of a range of causal factors in the reporting of adverse events. In order to communicate our findings, we introduce J-H graphs as a means of representing the proportion of causes and contributory factors associated with human error, equipment failure and other high level classifications in longitudinal studies of accident reports. Our results suggest the proportion of causal and contributory factors attributable to direct human error may be very much smaller than has been suggested elsewhere in the human factors literature. In contrast, more attention should be paid to wider systemic issues, including the managerial and regulatory context of maritime operations.

  8. Assessment of environmental public exposure from a hypothetical nuclear accident for Unit-1 Bushehr nuclear power plant.

    PubMed

    Sohrabi, M; Ghasemi, M; Amrollahi, R; Khamooshi, C; Parsouzi, Z

    2013-05-01

    Unit-1 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (BNPP-1) is a VVER-type reactor with 1,000-MWe power constructed near Bushehr city at the coast of the Persian Gulf, Iran. The reactor has been recently operational to near its full power. The radiological impact of nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents is of public concern, and the assessment of radiological consequences of any hypothetical nuclear accident on public exposure is vital. The hypothetical accident scenario considered in this paper is a design-basis accident, that is, a primary coolant leakage to the secondary circuit. This scenario was selected in order to compare and verify the results obtained in the present paper with those reported in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR 2007) of the BNPP-1 and to develop a well-proven methodology that can be used to study other and more severe hypothetical accident scenarios for this reactor. In the present study, the version 2.01 of the PC COSYMA code was applied. In the early phase of the accidental releases, effective doses (from external and internal exposures) as well as individual and collective doses (due to the late phase of accidental releases) were evaluated. The surrounding area of the BNPP-1 within a radius of 80 km was subdivided into seven concentric rings and 16 sectors, and distribution of population and agricultural products was calculated for this grid. The results show that during the first year following the modeled hypothetical accident, the effective doses do not exceed the limit of 5 mSv, for the considered distances from the BNPP-1. The results obtained in this study are in good agreement with those in the FSAR-2007 report. The agreement obtained is in light of many inherent uncertainties and variables existing in the two modeling procedures applied and proves that the methodology applied here can also be used to model other severe hypothetical accident scenarios of the BNPP-1 such as a small and large break in the reactor coolant system as well

  9. An Application of CICCT Accident Categories to Aviation Accidents in 1988-2004

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Evans, Joni K.

    2007-01-01

    Interventions or technologies developed to improve aviation safety often focus on specific causes or accident categories. Evaluation of the potential effectiveness of those interventions is dependent upon mapping the historical aviation accidents into those same accident categories. To that end, the United States civil aviation accidents occurring between 1988 and 2004 (n=26,117) were assigned accident categories based upon the taxonomy developed by the CAST/ICAO Common Taxonomy Team (CICTT). Results are presented separately for four main categories of flight rules: Part 121 (large commercial air carriers), Scheduled Part 135 (commuter airlines), Non-Scheduled Part 135 (on-demand air taxi) and Part 91 (general aviation). Injuries and aircraft damage are summarized by year and by accident category.

  10. Demonstration of emulator-based Bayesian calibration of safety analysis codes: Theory and formulation

    DOE PAGES

    Yurko, Joseph P.; Buongiorno, Jacopo; Youngblood, Robert

    2015-05-28

    System codes for simulation of safety performance of nuclear plants may contain parameters whose values are not known very accurately. New information from tests or operating experience is incorporated into safety codes by a process known as calibration, which reduces uncertainty in the output of the code and thereby improves its support for decision-making. The work reported here implements several improvements on classic calibration techniques afforded by modern analysis techniques. The key innovation has come from development of code surrogate model (or code emulator) construction and prediction algorithms. Use of a fast emulator makes the calibration processes used here withmore » Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling feasible. This study uses Gaussian Process (GP) based emulators, which have been used previously to emulate computer codes in the nuclear field. The present work describes the formulation of an emulator that incorporates GPs into a factor analysis-type or pattern recognition-type model. This “function factorization” Gaussian Process (FFGP) model allows overcoming limitations present in standard GP emulators, thereby improving both accuracy and speed of the emulator-based calibration process. Calibration of a friction-factor example using a Method of Manufactured Solution is performed to illustrate key properties of the FFGP based process.« less

  11. Strategies for dealing with resistance to recommendations from accident investigations.

    PubMed

    Lundberg, Jonas; Rollenhagen, Carl; Hollnagel, Erik; Rankin, Amy

    2012-03-01

    Accident investigation reports usually lead to a set of recommendations for change. These recommendations are, however, sometimes resisted for reasons such as various aspects of ethics and power. When accident investigators are aware of this, they use several strategies to overcome the resistance. This paper describes strategies for dealing with four different types of resistance to change. The strategies were derived from qualitative analysis of 25 interviews with Swedish accident investigators from seven application domains. The main contribution of the paper is a better understanding of effective strategies for achieving change associated with accident investigation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Road accidents caused by sleepy drivers: Update of a Norwegian survey.

    PubMed

    Phillips, Ross Owen; Sagberg, Fridulv

    2013-01-01

    The current study tests, updates and expands a model of factors associated with sleepy driving, originally based on a 1997 survey of accident-involved Norwegian drivers (Sagberg, F., 1999. Road accidents caused by drivers falling asleep. Accident Analysis & Prevention 31, 639-649). The aim is to establish a robust model to inform measures to tackle sleepy driving. The original questions on (i) tiredness-related accidents and (ii) incidents of sleep behind the wheel in the last 12 months were again posed in 2003 and 2008, in independent surveys of Norwegian drivers involved in accidents reported to a large insurance company. According to those drivers at-fault for the accident, tiredness or sleepiness behind the wheel contributed to between 1.9 and 3.9 per cent of all types of accident reported to the insurance company across these years. Accident-involved drivers not at fault for the accident reported a reduction in the incidence of sleep behind the wheel for the preceding year, decreasing from 8.3 per cent in 1997 to 2.9 per cent in 2008. The reasons for this are not clear. According to logistic regression analysis of survey responses, the following factors were robustly associated with road accidents involving sleepy driving: driving off the road; good road conditions; longer distance driven since the start of the trip; and fewer years with a driving licence. The following factors are consistently associated with reports of sleep behind the wheel, whether or not it leads to an accident: being male; driving further per year; being younger; and having sleep-related health problems. Taken together these findings suggest that young, inexperienced male drivers who drive long distances may be a suitable target for road safety campaigns aimed at tackling sleepy driving. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. NOAA/DOE CWP structural analysis package. [CWPFLY, CWPEXT, COTEC, and XOTEC codes

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pompa, J.A.; Lunz, D.F.

    1979-09-01

    The theoretical development and computer code user's manual for analysis of the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant cold water pipe (CWP) are presented. The analysis of the CWP includes coupled platform/CWP loadngs and dynamic responses. This report with the exception of the Introduction and Appendix F was orginally published as Hydronautics, Inc., Technical Report No. 7825-2 (by Barr, Chang, and Thasanatorn) in November 1978. A detailed theoretical development of the equations describing the coupled platform/CWP system and preliminary validation efforts are described. The appendices encompass a complete user's manual, describing the inputs, outputs and operation of the four componentmore » programs, and detail changes and updates implemented since the original release of the code by Hydronautics. The code itself is available through NOAA's Office of Ocean Technology and Engineering Services.« less

  14. Experimental analysis of coding processes.

    PubMed

    Postman, L; Burns, S

    1973-12-01

    The first part of the paper reports an investigation of the effects of the concreteness-imagery (C-I) value of stimuli and responses on the long-term retention of paired-associate lists. With degree of learning equated, the measures of retention after a 1-week interval showed a significant interaction of Stimulus by Response C-I: When the responses had a high value, recall was substantially better with low than with high stimuli; when the responses were low, there was no reliable difference as a function of stimulus value. Recall was best when abstract stimuli were paired with concrete responses. The second part of the paper is addressed to some current issues in the analysis of coding processes. Major emphasis is placed on the experimental and theoretical differentiation of encoding and decoding processes.

  15. Off-road truck-related accidents in U.S. mines

    PubMed Central

    Dindarloo, Saeid R.; Pollard, Jonisha P.; Siami-Irdemoosa, Elnaz

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Off-road trucks are one of the major sources of equipment-related accidents in the U.S. mining industries. A systematic analysis of all off-road truck-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses, which are reported and published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is expected to provide practical insights for identifying the accident patterns and trends in the available raw database. Therefore, appropriate safety management measures can be administered and implemented based on these accident patterns/trends. Methods A hybrid clustering-classification methodology using K-means clustering and gene expression programming (GEP) is proposed for the analysis of severe and non-severe off-road truck-related injuries at U.S. mines. Using the GEP sub-model, a small subset of the 36 recorded attributes was found to be correlated to the severity level. Results Given the set of specified attributes, the clustering sub-model was able to cluster the accident records into 5 distinct groups. For instance, the first cluster contained accidents related to minerals processing mills and coal preparation plants (91%). More than two-thirds of the victims in this cluster had less than 5 years of job experience. This cluster was associated with the highest percentage of severe injuries (22 severe accidents, 3.4%). Almost 50% of all accidents in this cluster occurred at stone operations. Similarly, the other four clusters were characterized to highlight important patterns that can be used to determine areas of focus for safety initiatives. Conclusions The identified clusters of accidents may play a vital role in the prevention of severe injuries in mining. Further research into the cluster attributes and identified patterns will be necessary to determine how these factors can be mitigated to reduce the risk of severe injuries. Practical application Analyzing injury data using data mining techniques provides some insight into attributes that are associated with

  16. Off-road truck-related accidents in U.S. mines.

    PubMed

    Dindarloo, Saeid R; Pollard, Jonisha P; Siami-Irdemoosa, Elnaz

    2016-09-01

    Off-road trucks are one of the major sources of equipment-related accidents in the U.S. mining industries. A systematic analysis of all off-road truck-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses, which are reported and published by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), is expected to provide practical insights for identifying the accident patterns and trends in the available raw database. Therefore, appropriate safety management measures can be administered and implemented based on these accident patterns/trends. A hybrid clustering-classification methodology using K-means clustering and gene expression programming (GEP) is proposed for the analysis of severe and non-severe off-road truck-related injuries at U.S. mines. Using the GEP sub-model, a small subset of the 36 recorded attributes was found to be correlated to the severity level. Given the set of specified attributes, the clustering sub-model was able to cluster the accident records into 5 distinct groups. For instance, the first cluster contained accidents related to minerals processing mills and coal preparation plants (91%). More than two-thirds of the victims in this cluster had less than 5years of job experience. This cluster was associated with the highest percentage of severe injuries (22 severe accidents, 3.4%). Almost 50% of all accidents in this cluster occurred at stone operations. Similarly, the other four clusters were characterized to highlight important patterns that can be used to determine areas of focus for safety initiatives. The identified clusters of accidents may play a vital role in the prevention of severe injuries in mining. Further research into the cluster attributes and identified patterns will be necessary to determine how these factors can be mitigated to reduce the risk of severe injuries. Analyzing injury data using data mining techniques provides some insight into attributes that are associated with high accuracies for predicting injury severity. Copyright © 2016

  17. Analysis of factors associated with traffic accidents of cyclists attended in Brazilian state capitals.

    PubMed

    Sousa, Carlos Augusto Moreira de; Bahia, Camila Alves; Constantino, Patrícia

    2016-12-01

    Brazil has the sixth largest bicycles fleet in the world and bicycle is the most used individual transport vehicle in the country. Few studies address the issue of cyclists' accidents and factors that contribute to or prevent this event. VIVA is a cross-sectional survey and is part of the Violence and Accidents Surveillance System, Brazilian Ministry of Health. We used complex sampling and subsequent data review through multivariate logistic regression and calculation of the respective odds ratios. Odds ratios showed greater likelihood of cyclists' accidents in males, people with less schooling and living in urban and periurban areas. People who were not using the bike to go to work were more likely to suffer an accident. The profile found in this study corroborates findings of other studies. They claim that the coexistence of cyclists and other means of transportation in the same urban space increases the likelihood of accidents. The construction of bicycle-exclusive spaces and educational campaigns are required.

  18. CFD Analyses of Air-Ingress Accident for VHTRs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ham, Tae Kyu

    -ingress mechanism and to utilize the CFD simulation in the analysis of the phenomenon. Previous air-ingress studies simulated the depressurization process using simple assumptions or 1-D system code results. However, recent studies found flow oscillations near the end of the depressurization which could influence the next stage of the air-ingress accident. Therefore, CFD simulations were performed to examine the air-ingress mechanisms from the depressurization through the establishment of local natural circulation initiate. In addition to the double-guillotine break scenario, there are other scenarios that can lead to an air-ingress event such as a partial break were in the cross vessel with various break locations, orientations, and shapes. These additional situations were also investigated. The simulation results for the OSU test facility showed that the discharged helium coolant from a reactor vessel during the depressurization process will be mixed with the air in the containment. This process makes the density of the gas mixture in the containment lower and the density-driven air-ingress flow slower because the density-driven flow is established by the density difference of the gas species between the reactor vessel and the containment. In addition, for the simulations with various initial and boundary conditions, the simulation results showed that the total accumulated air in the containment collapsed within 10% standard deviation by: 1. multiplying the density ratio and viscosity ratio of the gas species between the containment and the reactor vessel and 2. multiplying the ratio of the air mole fraction and gas temperature to the reference value. By replacing the gas mixture in the reactor cavity with a gas heavier than the air, the air-ingress speed slowed down. Based on the understanding of the air-ingress phenomena for the GT-MHR air-ingress scenario, several mitigation measures of air-ingress accident are proposed. The CFD results are utilized to plan experimental

  19. Analysis of the Uniform Accident And Sickness Policy Provision Law: lessons for social work practice, policy, and research.

    PubMed

    Cochran, Gerald

    2010-01-01

    The Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL) is a state statute that allows insurance companies in 26 states to deny claims for accidents and injuries incurred by persons under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Serious repercussions can result for patients and health care professionals as states enforce this law. To examine differences within the laws that might facilitate amendments or reduce insurance companies' ability to deny claims, a content analysis was carried out of each state's UPPL law. Results showed no meaningful differences between each state's laws. These results indicate patients and health professionals share similar risk related to the UPPL regardless of state.

  20. [Reconstruction of Vehicle-human Crash Accident and Injury Analysis Based on 3D Laser Scanning, Multi-rigid-body Reconstruction and Optimized Genetic Algorithm].

    PubMed

    Sun, J; Wang, T; Li, Z D; Shao, Y; Zhang, Z Y; Feng, H; Zou, D H; Chen, Y J

    2017-12-01

    To reconstruct a vehicle-bicycle-cyclist crash accident and analyse the injuries using 3D laser scanning technology, multi-rigid-body dynamics and optimized genetic algorithm, and to provide biomechanical basis for the forensic identification of death cause. The vehicle was measured by 3D laser scanning technology. The multi-rigid-body models of cyclist, bicycle and vehicle were developed based on the measurements. The value range of optimal variables was set. A multi-objective genetic algorithm and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm were used to find the optimal solutions, which were compared to the record of the surveillance video around the accident scene. The reconstruction result of laser scanning on vehicle was satisfactory. In the optimal solutions found by optimization method of genetic algorithm, the dynamical behaviours of dummy, bicycle and vehicle corresponded to that recorded by the surveillance video. The injury parameters of dummy were consistent with the situation and position of the real injuries on the cyclist in accident. The motion status before accident, damage process by crash and mechanical analysis on the injury of the victim can be reconstructed using 3D laser scanning technology, multi-rigid-body dynamics and optimized genetic algorithm, which have application value in the identification of injury manner and analysis of death cause in traffic accidents. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine

  1. LSENS, A General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code for Homogeneous Gas-Phase Reactions. Part 2; Code Description and Usage

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Radhakrishnan, Krishnan; Bittker, David A.

    1994-01-01

    LSENS, the Lewis General Chemical Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, has been developed for solving complex, homogeneous, gas-phase chemical kinetics problems and contains sensitivity analysis for a variety of problems, including nonisothermal situations. This report is part II of a series of three reference publications that describe LSENS, provide a detailed guide to its usage, and present many example problems. Part II describes the code, how to modify it, and its usage, including preparation of the problem data file required to execute LSENS. Code usage is illustrated by several example problems, which further explain preparation of the problem data file and show how to obtain desired accuracy in the computed results. LSENS is a flexible, convenient, accurate, and efficient solver for chemical reaction problems such as static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; reaction behind incident shock wave, including boundary layer correction; and perfectly stirred (highly backmixed) reactor. In addition, the chemical equilibrium state can be computed for the following assigned states: temperature and pressure, enthalpy and pressure, temperature and volume, and internal energy and volume. For static problems the code computes the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of the dependent variables and/or the three rate coefficient parameters of the chemical reactions. Part I (NASA RP-1328) derives the governing equations and describes the numerical solution procedures for the types of problems that can be solved by LSENS. Part III (NASA RP-1330) explains the kinetics and kinetics-plus-sensitivity-analysis problems supplied with LSENS and presents sample results.

  2. Analyzing the causation of a railway accident based on a complex network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Xin; Li, Ke-Ping; Luo, Zi-Yan; Zhou, Jin

    2014-02-01

    In this paper, a new model is constructed for the causation analysis of railway accident based on the complex network theory. In the model, the nodes are defined as various manifest or latent accident causal factors. By employing the complex network theory, especially its statistical indicators, the railway accident as well as its key causations can be analyzed from the overall perspective. As a case, the “7.23” China—Yongwen railway accident is illustrated based on this model. The results show that the inspection of signals and the checking of line conditions before trains run played an important role in this railway accident. In conclusion, the constructed model gives a theoretical clue for railway accident prediction and, hence, greatly reduces the occurrence of railway accidents.

  3. Industrial Code Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shapiro, Wilbur

    1991-01-01

    The industrial codes will consist of modules of 2-D and simplified 2-D or 1-D codes, intended for expeditious parametric studies, analysis, and design of a wide variety of seals. Integration into a unified system is accomplished by the industrial Knowledge Based System (KBS), which will also provide user friendly interaction, contact sensitive and hypertext help, design guidance, and an expandable database. The types of analysis to be included with the industrial codes are interfacial performance (leakage, load, stiffness, friction losses, etc.), thermoelastic distortions, and dynamic response to rotor excursions. The first three codes to be completed and which are presently being incorporated into the KBS are the incompressible cylindrical code, ICYL, and the compressible cylindrical code, GCYL.

  4. Development of Safety Analysis Code System of Beam Transport and Core for Accelerator Driven System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aizawa, Naoto; Iwasaki, Tomohiko

    2014-06-01

    Safety analysis code system of beam transport and core for accelerator driven system (ADS) is developed for the analyses of beam transients such as the change of the shape and position of incident beam. The code system consists of the beam transport analysis part and the core analysis part. TRACE 3-D is employed in the beam transport analysis part, and the shape and incident position of beam at the target are calculated. In the core analysis part, the neutronics, thermo-hydraulics and cladding failure analyses are performed by the use of ADS dynamic calculation code ADSE on the basis of the external source database calculated by PHITS and the cross section database calculated by SRAC, and the programs of the cladding failure analysis for thermoelastic and creep. By the use of the code system, beam transient analyses are performed for the ADS proposed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency. As a result, the rapid increase of the cladding temperature happens and the plastic deformation is caused in several seconds. In addition, the cladding is evaluated to be failed by creep within a hundred seconds. These results have shown that the beam transients have caused a cladding failure.

  5. An Experiment in Scientific Code Semantic Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stewart, Mark E. M.

    1998-01-01

    This paper concerns a procedure that analyzes aspects of the meaning or semantics of scientific and engineering code. This procedure involves taking a user's existing code, adding semantic declarations for some primitive variables, and parsing this annotated code using multiple, distributed expert parsers. These semantic parser are designed to recognize formulae in different disciplines including physical and mathematical formulae and geometrical position in a numerical scheme. The parsers will automatically recognize and document some static, semantic concepts and locate some program semantic errors. Results are shown for a subroutine test case and a collection of combustion code routines. This ability to locate some semantic errors and document semantic concepts in scientific and engineering code should reduce the time, risk, and effort of developing and using these codes.

  6. SOPHAEROS code development and its application to falcon tests

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lajtha, G.; Missirlian, M.; Kissane, M.

    1996-12-31

    One of the key issues in source-term evaluation in nuclear reactor severe accidents is determination of the transport behavior of fission products released from the degrading core. The SOPHAEROS computer code is being developed to predict fission product transport in a mechanistic way in light water reactor circuits. These applications of the SOPHAEROS code to the Falcon experiments, among others not presented here, indicate that the numerical scheme of the code is robust, and no convergence problems are encountered. The calculation is also very fast being three times longer on a Sun SPARC 5 workstation than real time and typicallymore » {approx} 10 times faster than an identical calculation with the VICTORIA code. The study demonstrates that the SOPHAEROS 1.3 code is a suitable tool for prediction of the vapor chemistry and fission product transport with a reasonable level of accuracy. Furthermore, the fexibility of the code material data bank allows improvement of understanding of fission product transport and deposition in the circuit. Performing sensitivity studies with different chemical species or with different properties (saturation pressure, chemical equilibrium constants) is very straightforward.« less

  7. Aircraft accidents by older persons.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1967-10-01

    During 1965 there were 450,494 certificated general aviation pilots in the United States, of which 9,826 were over sixty years old. Within this group there were 108 accidents, 17 of which were fatal. Statistical analysis (chi square) revealed that th...

  8. Causes of Coal Mine Accidents in the World and Turkey.

    PubMed

    Küçük, Filiz Çağla Uyanusta; Ilgaz, Aslıhan

    2015-04-01

    Occupational accidents and occupational diseases are common in the mining sector in Turkey and throughout the world. The most common causes of accidents in coal mining are firedamp and dust explosions, landslips, mine fires, and technical failures related to transport and mechanization. An analysis of occupational accidents in the consideration of social and economic factors will let understand the real causes behind these accidents, which are said to happen inevitably due to technical deficiencies or failures. Irregular working conditions, based on profit maximization and cost minimization, are related to strategic operational preferences and public policies. Proving that accidents in mines, where occupational health and safety measures are not implemented and inspections are not done properly or at all, are caused by the fact that production is imposed to be carried out in the fastest, cheapest, and most profitable way will allow us to take steps to prevent further mine accidents.

  9. Development of a CFD Code for Analysis of Fluid Dynamic Forces in Seals

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Athavale, Mahesh M.; Przekwas, Andrzej J.; Singhal, Ashok K.

    1991-01-01

    The aim is to develop a 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code for the analysis of fluid flow in cylindrical seals and evaluation of the dynamic forces on the seals. This code is expected to serve as a scientific tool for detailed flow analysis as well as a check for the accuracy of the 2D industrial codes. The features necessary in the CFD code are outlined. The initial focus was to develop or modify and implement new techniques and physical models. These include collocated grid formulation, rotating coordinate frames and moving grid formulation. Other advanced numerical techniques include higher order spatial and temporal differencing and an efficient linear equation solver. These techniques were implemented in a 2D flow solver for initial testing. Several benchmark test cases were computed using the 2D code, and the results of these were compared to analytical solutions or experimental data to check the accuracy. Tests presented here include planar wedge flow, flow due to an enclosed rotor, and flow in a 2D seal with a whirling rotor. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results for an annular seal and a 7-cavity labyrinth seal are also included.

  10. Quantitative analysis of factors that affect oil pipeline network accident based on Bayesian networks: A case study in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Chao; Qin, Ting Xin; Huang, Shuai; Wu, Jian Song; Meng, Xin Yan

    2018-06-01

    Some factors can affect the consequences of oil pipeline accident and their effects should be analyzed to improve emergency preparation and emergency response. Although there are some qualitative analysis models of risk factors' effects, the quantitative analysis model still should be researched. In this study, we introduce a Bayesian network (BN) model of risk factors' effects analysis in an oil pipeline accident case that happened in China. The incident evolution diagram is built to identify the risk factors. And the BN model is built based on the deployment rule for factor nodes in BN and the expert knowledge by Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. Then the probabilities of incident consequences and risk factors' effects can be calculated. The most likely consequences given by this model are consilient with the case. Meanwhile, the quantitative estimations of risk factors' effects may provide a theoretical basis to take optimal risk treatment measures for oil pipeline management, which can be used in emergency preparation and emergency response.

  11. A study of carburetor/induction system icing in general aviation accidents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Obermayer, R. W.; Roe, W. T.

    1975-01-01

    An assessment of the frequency and severity of carburetor/induction icing in general-aviation accidents was performed. The available literature and accident data from the National Transportation Safety Board were collected. A computer analysis of the accident data was performed. Between 65 and 90 accidents each year involve carburetor/induction system icing as a probable cause/factor. Under conditions conducive to carburetor/induction icing, between 50 and 70 percent of engine malfunction/failure accidents (exclusive of those due to fuel exhaustion) are due to carburetor/induction system icing. Since the evidence of such icing may not remain long after an accident, it is probable that the frequency of occurrence of such accidents is underestimated; therefore, some extrapolation of the data was conducted. The problem of carburetor/induction system icing is particularly acute for pilots with less than 1000 hours of total flying time. The severity of such accidents is about the same as any accident resulting from a forced landing or precautionary landing. About 144 persons, on the average, are exposed to death and injury each year in accidents involving carburetor/induction icing as a probable cause/factor.

  12. The epidemiology and cost analysis of patients presented to Emergency Department following traffic accidents.

    PubMed

    Akgül Karadana, Gökçe; Metin Aksu, Nalan; Akkaş, Meltem; Akman, Canan; Üzümcügil, Akın; Özmen, M Mahir

    2013-12-09

    Traffic accidents are ranked first as the cause of personal injury throughout the world. The high number of traffic accidents yielding injuries and fatalities makes them of great importance to Emergency Departments. Patients admitted to Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Adult Emergency Department due to traffic accidents were investigated epidemiologically. Differences between groups were evaluated by Kruskall-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests. A value of p<0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. We included 2003 patients over 16 years of age. The mean age was 39.6 ± 16.1 and 55% were males. Admissions by ambulance and due to motor vehicle accidents were the most common. In 2004 the rate of traffic accidents (15.3%) was higher than the other years, the most common month was May (10.8%), and the most common time period was 6 pm to 12 am (midnight). About half of the patients (51.5%) were admitted in the first 30 minutes. Life-threatening condition was present in 9.6% of the patients. Head trauma was the most common type of trauma, with the rate of 18.3%. Mortality rate was 81.8%. The average length of hospital stay was 403 minutes (6.7 hours) and the average cost per patient was 983 ± 4364 TL. Further studies are needed to compare the cost found in this study with the mean cost for Turkey. However, the most important step to reduce the direct and indirect costs due to traffic accidents is the prevention of these accidents.

  13. A Review of Criticality Accidents 2000 Revision

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Thomas P. McLaughlin; Shean P. Monahan; Norman L. Pruvost

    Criticality accidents and the characteristics of prompt power excursions are discussed. Sixty accidental power excursions are reviewed. Sufficient detail is provided to enable the reader to understand the physical situation, the chemistry and material flow, and when available the administrative setting leading up to the time of the accident. Information on the power history, energy release, consequences, and causes are also included when available. For those accidents that occurred in process plants, two new sections have been included in this revision. The first is an analysis and summary of the physical and neutronic features of the chain reacting systems. Themore » second is a compilation of observations and lessons learned. Excursions associated with large power reactors are not included in this report.« less

  14. Factors contributing to young moped rider accidents in Denmark.

    PubMed

    Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

    2016-02-01

    Young road users still constitute a high-risk group with regard to road traffic accidents. The crash rate of a moped is four times greater than that of a motorcycle, and the likelihood of being injured in a road traffic accident is 10-20 times higher among moped riders compared to car drivers. Nevertheless, research on the behaviour and accident involvement of young moped riders remains sparse. Based on analysis of 128 accident protocols, the purpose of this study was to increase knowledge about moped accidents. The study was performed in Denmark involving riders aged 16 or 17. A distinction was made between accident factors related to (1) the road and its surroundings, (2) the vehicle, and (3) the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. Thirteen accident factors were identified with the majority concerning the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. The average number of accident factors assigned per accident was 2.7. Riding speed was assigned in 45% of the accidents which made it the most frequently assigned factor on the part of the moped rider followed by attention errors (42%), a tuned up moped (29%) and position on the road (14%). For the other parties involved, attention error (52%) was the most frequently assigned accident factor. The majority (78%) of the accidents involved road rule breaching on the part of the moped rider. The results indicate that preventive measures should aim to eliminate violations and increase anticipatory skills among moped riders and awareness of mopeds among other road users. Due to their young age the effect of such measures could be enhanced by infrastructural measures facilitating safe interaction between mopeds and other road users. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Preventing accidents

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2005-08-01

    As the most effective strategy for improving safety is to prevent accidents from occurring at all, the Volpe Center applies a broad range of research techniques and capabilities to determine causes and consequences of accidents and to identify, asses...

  16. [The meaning of accidents with biological material to nursing professionals].

    PubMed

    Magagnini, Maristela Aparecida Magri; Rocha, Suelen Alves; Ayres, Jairo Aparecido

    2011-06-01

    The aim of this study is to understand what meaning work accidents with exposure to biological material has to nurses. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach, and it used Bardin's content analysis. 87 accidents with biological material occurred in the period between 2001 and 2006; among them, eight were seropositive for Hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS. An interview with guiding questions was used to collect data. When inquiring these professionals about the meaning of these accidents, four categories emerged: risk situation, danger perception, fatality, and feelings. Although it is not a strategy of clarification, it is a fact that work organization and educative actions have considerable impact in reducing this type of accident, also reducing damage to the life of nurses involved in these accidents.

  17. Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) : gap analysis for high fidelity and performance assessment code development.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lee, Joon H.; Siegel, Malcolm Dean; Arguello, Jose Guadalupe, Jr.

    2011-03-01

    This report describes a gap analysis performed in the process of developing the Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Campaign. The goal of the Waste IPSC is to develop an integrated suite of computational modeling and simulation capabilities to quantitatively assess the long-term performance of waste forms in the engineered and geologic environments of a radioactive waste storage or disposal system. The Waste IPSC will provide this simulation capability (1) for a range of disposal concepts, waste form types, engineered repositorymore » designs, and geologic settings, (2) for a range of time scales and distances, (3) with appropriate consideration of the inherent uncertainties, and (4) in accordance with rigorous verification, validation, and software quality requirements. The gap analyses documented in this report were are performed during an initial gap analysis to identify candidate codes and tools to support the development and integration of the Waste IPSC, and during follow-on activities that delved into more detailed assessments of the various codes that were acquired, studied, and tested. The current Waste IPSC strategy is to acquire and integrate the necessary Waste IPSC capabilities wherever feasible, and develop only those capabilities that cannot be acquired or suitably integrated, verified, or validated. The gap analysis indicates that significant capabilities may already exist in the existing THC codes although there is no single code able to fully account for all physical and chemical processes involved in a waste disposal system. Large gaps exist in modeling chemical processes and their couplings with other processes. The coupling of chemical processes with flow transport and mechanical deformation remains challenging. The data for extreme environments (e.g., for elevated temperature and high ionic strength media) that

  18. Combined coding and delay-throughput analysis for fading channels of mobile satellite communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, C. C.; Yan, Tsun-Yee

    1986-01-01

    This paper presents the analysis of using the punctured convolutional code with Viterbi decoding to improve communications reliability. The punctured code rate is optimized so that the average delay is minimized. The coding gain in terms of the message delay is also defined. Since using punctured convolutional code with interleaving is still inadequate to combat the severe fading for short packets, the use of multiple copies of assignment and acknowledgment packets is suggested. The performance on the average end-to-end delay of this protocol is analyzed. It is shown that a replication of three copies for both assignment packets and acknowledgment packets is optimum for the cases considered.

  19. Latent class analysis of accident risks in usage-based insurance: Evidence from Beijing.

    PubMed

    Jin, Wen; Deng, Yinglu; Jiang, Hai; Xie, Qianyan; Shen, Wei; Han, Weijian

    2018-06-01

    Car insurance is quickly becoming a big data industry, with usage-based insurance (UBI) poised to potentially change the business of insurance. Telematics data, which are transmitted from wireless devices in car, are widely used in UBI to obtain individual-level travel and driving characteristics. While most existing studies have introduced telematics data into car insurance pricing, the telematics-related characteristics are directly obtained from the raw data. In this study, we propose to quantify drivers' familiarity with their driving routes and develop models to quantify drivers' accident risks using the telematics data. In addition, we build a latent class model to study the heterogeneity in travel and driving styles based on the telematics data, which has not been investigated in literature. Our main results include: (1) the improvement to the model fit is statistically significant by adding telematics-related characteristics; (2) drivers' familiarity with their driving trips is critical to identify high risk drivers, and the relationship between drivers' familiarity and accident risks is non-linear; (3) the drivers can be classified into two classes, where the first class is the low risk class with 0.54% of its drivers reporting accidents, and the second class is the high risk class with 20.66% of its drivers reporting accidents; and (4) for the low risk class, drivers with high probability of reporting accidents can be identified by travel-behavior-related characteristics, while for the high risk class, they can be identified by driving-behavior-related characteristics. The driver's familiarity will affect the probability of reporting accidents for both classes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. MELCOR computer code manuals: Primer and user`s guides, Version 1.8.3 September 1994. Volume 1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Summers, R.M.; Cole, R.K. Jr.; Smith, R.C.

    1995-03-01

    MELCOR is a fully integrated, engineering-level computer code that models the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor nuclear power plants. MELCOR is being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a second-generation plant risk assessment tool and the successor to the Source Term Code Package. A broad spectrum of severe accident phenomena in both boiling and pressurized water reactors is treated in MELCOR in a unified framework. These include: thermal-hydraulic response in the reactor coolant system, reactor cavity, containment, and confinement buildings; core heatup, degradation, and relocation; core-concrete attack; hydrogen production, transport, andmore » combustion; fission product release and transport; and the impact of engineered safety features on thermal-hydraulic and radionuclide behavior. Current uses of MELCOR include estimation of severe accident source terms and their sensitivities and uncertainties in a variety of applications. This publication of the MELCOR computer code manuals corresponds to MELCOR 1.8.3, released to users in August, 1994. Volume 1 contains a primer that describes MELCOR`s phenomenological scope, organization (by package), and documentation. The remainder of Volume 1 contains the MELCOR Users` Guides, which provide the input instructions and guidelines for each package. Volume 2 contains the MELCOR Reference Manuals, which describe the phenomenological models that have been implemented in each package.« less