• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.79-105
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• 2014

Natech risk is a type of complex disasters that natural hazards trigger technological disaster or industrial accidents. Research on Natech risk has been started from the mid-1990s in European countries and the Unites States, and drawn much more attention after the Fukushima nuclear accident caused by the 2011 East Japan earthquake. While early studies on Natech risk have focused on the causal natural hazards and possibility to occur, and the resulting spill of hazardous materials from the perspective of science and engineering, the recent research interests lie on effective Natech risk management. Especially, emphasizing the difference of Natech risk management from traditional disaster management, issues of uncertainty management, integration between natural disaster and technological disaster, and responsibility, has been drawn attention. In Korea, Natech risk has not been introduced as a research topic. Although some regulatory improvements have been made in nuclear safety and chemical Substance management after the Fukushima disaster, the potential impact of natural hazards in these areas has not been considered yet. It is necessary to raise the issues of Natech risk management in research and policy areas through active discussion and interdisciplinary approaches.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.111-118
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• 2019

Accidents occurring due to natural disasters in chemical process facilities where technologies are concentrated can cause secondary damage. The concept of the relationship between natural disasters and highly intensive technologies has evolved into the Natech (Natural Hazards Triggered Technological Disaster) research. Currently, the number of earthquakes is increasing all over the Korean peninsula. To assess the risk of Natech when an earthquake has occurred in South Korea, the Rapid Natech Risk Assessment Tool (RAPID-N) developed by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (EC JRC) was used in the present study. The RAPID-N can be used for Natech risk assessment based on mapping and can be utilized for sufficient preparation for reduction of the effects of Natech accidents. A total of 261 chemical facilities actually existing in Pohang were initially analyzed to select eight facilities and the Pohang earthquake that occurred in 2017 was implemented in the RAPID-N utilizing the shake map. High risk areas were selected through Natech risk assessments for the selected eight work places and countermeasures for the areas were suggested. High risk areas exist depending on the location, since the damage influence ranges could be overlapped and each chemical facility has an independent probability of Natech. Therefore, studies on Natech emergency plans and emergency evacuation routes should be actively conducted considering such high risk areas. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of Natech risk assessment in South Korea through the RAPID-N. These findings can be used as a reference material to lay a foundation for Natech risk assessment and related policies in South Korea.

• Disaster Prevention Review
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.28-40
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• 2016

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.91-109
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• 2020

Over the past few decades, the impact of natural, manmade and natech (natural hazard triggering technological disasters) disasters has been devastating, affecting over 4.4 billion people. In spite of recent technological advances, the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters and the escalation of manmade threats is presenting a number of challenges that warrant immediate attention. This paper explores the integration of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) into infrastructure monitoring and post-disaster assessment. Through reviewing some of the recent disasters, effectiveness of utilizing UAV's in different stages of disaster life cycle is demonstrated and needed steps for successful integration of UAV's in infrastructure monitoring, hazard mitigation and post-incident assessment applications are discussed. In addition, some of the challenges associated with implementing UAV's in disaster monitoring, together with research needs to overcome associated knowledge gaps, is presented.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.79-88
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• 2018

This study presents an evaluation method to estimate the damage scale of chemical storage tank of petrochemical plant due to the earthquake that is likely to occur among NaTech damage types. Based on this, the risk for damage reduction of chemical storage tanks was evaluated. As a result of the study, the risk of the storage tank increased greatly considering the earthquake, and the risk was greatly reduced as a result of evaluating the proposed measures to mitigate the damage impact on the earthquake. This study is expected to contribute to the research on the reduction of NaTech damages such as typhoons and thunderstorms as well as earthquakes, and to establish an emergency response plan. In the future, it is necessary to systematically study and institutionalize the risk reduction measures considering earthquakes.