Practical safety management for small or medium enterprises

The article is intended for those who are not safety professionals but are responsible for safety management in a small or medium enterprise (SME) of the process industry. It assumes that a SME is loosely coupled and of low complexity and has a small number of major hazards present in it. The article describes Elementary Safety Management (ESM) as a combination of activities that maintain openness to safety impulses with Elementary Risk Control (ERC). ERC uses four milestones and three rules to get to the necessary and sufficient selection of control measures, which will achieve an acceptable level of risk. To make the ESM scheme as simple as possible, the term causal event is used, which is derived from the term causal factor. Practical Safety Management (PrSM) adds to the ESM the knowledge and skills that a person, who is supposed to design and implement a safety management system, needs. The PrSM procedure is developed to identify optimum controls. The procedure recognizes the unavoidable role of commitment to safety, respects the role of hazard identification, and integrates prospective and retrospective analyses and current knowledge of safety management systems. Examples of application of the procedure are given in the article.     

Informal mining in Mongolia: livelihood change and continuity in the rangelands

Change has been the leitmotif of Mongolia in recent years as the country rides on the back of a mining boom, but enormous upheavals tear apart Mongolian economic, political and social fabrics. Yet, Mongolian imagination continues to be imbued with the idea of nomadic herders, the quintessential pasture and rangeland dwellers of the steppes. The conflicting visions raise the question: “How is the livelihood of Mongolia’s nomadic herders responding to the diverse changes ushered in by the post-socialist economic reforms?” This paper investigates this question in the context of the growing artisanal and small-scale mining, which is described as informal mining, and argues that the Mongolian nomads are continually (re)adjusting their livelihoods through informal mining to cope with the variety of transitions triggered off by processes put in place by state policies. It argues that the nomadic herders are not only responding to climate change or poverty, but are also stepping up to seek a share of the mineral resource wealth that the state is promising to the international investors. The aim of the paper is to offer an alternative interpretation of the commodity rush by erstwhile rural-based nomadic herders of Mongolia, and to link their involvement in informal mining with global debates of political economy.     

大型水电工程地质环境质量损益经济评价研究

大型水电工程建设是社会基础性的大投资,具有发电、供水、防洪、航运及养殖等多种效益,但同时又对地质环境带来一定程度的损害。本文从水电工程与地质环境的相互关系出发,建立了分析评价指标体系和评价模型,就大型水电工程地质环境质量损益的经济评价提出了自己的看法。     

基于风险管理的区域（流域）地下水污染预警方法研究

地下水是我国重要的水资源,当前我国面临的地下水污染防治形势较为严峻.开展地下水污染风险评价及预警是预防地下水污染的有效措施,目前国内外有关地下水污染预警方面研究尚处于探索阶段,未形成一套完善的、可供借鉴的技术方法.本研究在分析不同尺度地区地下水污染预警工作需求的基础上,筛选出区域(流域)尺度地下水污染预警指标,包括地质介质防护性能、污染源特征、地下水动态及地下水价值因素四项指标,并利用指标叠置法建立了地下水污染预警模型.以包头平原区为例,开展了地下水污染预警研究,利用建立的模型划分了不同等级的地下水污染预警分区,研究成果可为当地地下水资源管理部门提供科技支撑.     

美国资产证券化中的政府作用对我国的借鉴

美国政府在资产证券化创设过程中发挥了巨大的作用。为推动我国资产证券化的开展，我国政府可借鉴美国做法，采取修订法律、营造金融环境、设置政府机构等措施。     

国外危险废物优先管理理论与实践研究

研究了美国、欧盟、新西兰和挪威等危险废物（化学品）优先管理名录及其制订的理论依据及实践,得出危险废物或化学品的毒性及产生现状是建立优先名录的基础,以风险评价为依据制订危险废物优先管理名录研究尚不完善,优先名录中危险废物具体的控制措施或办法仍未有详细的规定。在综述国外研究的基础上,对我国危险废物优先管理名录制订提出了建议：1）对我国危险废物基础数据展开调查,建立危险废物在产生、收集运输及贮存和处置全过程中的基础数据库;2）我国在开展危险废物优先管理名录研究应以风险评价为技术基础;3）根据我国危险废物管理的实际情况,尽快制订相关的管理办法。     

Analytical results and effective dose estimation of the operational Environmental Monitoring Program for the radioactive waste repository in Abadia de Goiás from 1998 to 2008

This paper presents the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program for the Radioactive waste repository of Abadia de Goiás, which was originated from the accident of Goiania, conducted by the Regional Center of Nuclear Sciences (CRCN-CO) of the National Commission on Nuclear Energy (CNEN), from 1998 to 2008.The results are related to the determination of ¹³⁷Cs activity per unit of mass or volume of samples from surface water, ground water, depth sediments of the river, soil and vegetation, and also the air-kerma rate estimation for gamma exposure in the monitored site.In the phase of operational Environmental Monitoring Program, the values of the geometric mean and standard deviation obtained for ¹³⁷Cs activity per unit of mass or volume in the analyzed samples were (0.08 ± 1.16) Bq.L⁻¹ for surface and underground water, (0.22 ± 2.79) Bq.kg⁻¹ for soil, and (0.19 ± 2.72) Bq.kg⁻¹ for sediment, and (0.19 ± 2.30) Bq.kg⁻¹ for vegetation. These results were similar to the values of the pre-operational Environmental Monitoring Program.With these data, estimations for effective dose were evaluated for public individuals in the neighborhood of the waste repository, considering the main possible way of exposure of this population group.The annual effective dose obtained from the analysis of these results were lower than 0.3 mSv.y⁻¹, which is the limit established by CNEN for environmental impact in the public individuals indicating that the facility is operating safely, without any radiological impact to the surrounding environment.     

Evaluation of the fish short term reproduction assay for detecting endocrine disrupters

In a fish testing strategy, positive results of the fish short term reproduction assay (FSTR), often trigger a definitive test like the fish sexual development test (FSDT) or the fish full life cycle test (FFLC), entailing ethical and economic problems. This study analysed 137 studies encompassing 35 chemicals with different modes of actions (MOAs). Variability is quantified for MOA endpoints vitellogenin (VTG) and secondary sex characteristics (SSCs) as well as for apical endpoints. Two MOA endpoints could indicate estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, androgenic, anti-androgenic and steroidogenesis activities. Great variability, however, has been observed for chemicals with anti-androgenic and steroidogenesis activities, suggesting that TG229/230 may not be sensitive enough to detect these types of chemicals and may produce false negatives. Changes in apical endpoints like fecundity are not limited to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Non-EDCs could induce the similar effects on these apical endpoints. If elucidating MOA is needed, targeted in vitro MOA tests are suggested. Positive in vitro MOA results trigger a definitive test, which could be used for confirmation of the MOA in vivo and for deriving a no observed effect concentration (NOEC). Based on positive MOA results of TG229, a definitive test such as the FSDT or the FFLC is still needed, because the current TG229 has limitation on the derivation of a NOEC. An extended TG229 with more power to detect reproduction effects, as recently proposed in the OECD test guideline program, would improve the possibility to derive a NOEC and increase its usefulness in risk assessment.     

利用粉煤灰输送与贮存系统处置粘胶纤维污水场污泥的研究

通过对粘胶纤维污水场的中和脱锌污泥、二沉池剩余污泥和煤灰水混合体的沉降性能实验,证实其固液分离性能良好;吸附与渗透实验取得了粉煤灰、亚粘土对锌、汞的吸附等温线和地下水影响预测所需的参数;并分析了灰泥混合流体对电厂原输灰系统和环境的影响。研究结果表明：利用粉煤灰输送与贮存系统处置粘胶纤维污水场污泥的处理工艺在技术上可行,操作简单、运行可靠、投资少,每年可节省污泥处理费用40.5万元。外排污染物达到国家排放标准。     

管道燃气火灾爆炸事故树分析

在调查与研究的基础上，采用安全系统工程的方法，对城市管道燃气火灾爆炸事故进行了事故树分析。文中给出的由201个基本原因事件和81个逻辑门所构成的管道燃气火灾爆炸事故树分析图，直观地表现了各可能导致顶上事件发生的初始因素及其逻辑关系，经对FT的求解，得出了243个最小径集，指明了预防事故发生的可能途径；在对采用各可能预防途径的可行性，经济性，可操作性进行充分的考虑与比较后，确定出了城市管道燃气火灾爆炸事故预防措施，并做出安全检查表，以供现场实施使用；最后提出了提高燃气安全运行水平的建议。