Citation

Jaeger CD. J. Hazard. Mater. 2003; 104(1-3): 207-213.

Affiliation

Security Systems and Technology Center, Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, MS 0759, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA. cdjaege@sandia.gov

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14602410

Abstract

Sandia National Laboratories, under the direction

of the Office of Science and Technology, National Institute of Justice,

conducted the chemical facility vulnerability assessment (CFVA) project. The

primary objective of this project was to develop, test and validate a

vulnerability assessment methodology (VAM) for determining the security of

chemical facilities against terrorist or criminal attacks (VAM-CF). The project

also included a report to the Department of Justice for Congress that in

addition to describing the VAM-CF also addressed general observations related to

security practices, threats and risks at chemical facilities and chemical

transport.In the development of the VAM-CF Sandia leveraged the experience

gained from the use and development of VAs in other areas and the input from the

chemical industry and Federal agencies. The VAM-CF is a systematic, risk-based

approach where risk is a function of the severity of consequences of an

undesired event, the attack potential, and the likelihood of adversary success

in causing the undesired event. For the purpose of the VAM-CF analyses Risk is a

function of S, L(A), and L(AS), where S is the severity of consequence of an

event, L(A) is the attack potential and L(AS) likelihood of adversary success in

causing a catastrophic event. The VAM-CF consists of 13 basic steps. It involves

an initial screening step, which helps to identify and prioritize facilities for

further analysis. This step is similar to the prioritization approach developed

by the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Other steps help to determine the

components of the risk equation and ultimately the risk. The VAM-CF process

involves identifying the hazardous chemicals and processes at a chemical

facility. It helps chemical facilities to focus their attention on the most

critical areas. The VAM-CF is not a quantitative analysis but, rather, compares

relative security risks. If the risks are deemed too high, recommendations are

developed for measures to reduce the risk. This paper will briefly discuss the

CFVA project and VAM-CF process.