Scholarly record

ASSESSMENT OF THE MAN-MADE HAZARDS AT REGIONAL SCALE. THE CASE OF BUHAREST-ILFOV DEVELOPMENT REGION

Ines Grigorescu

Abstract

Bucharest-Ilfov Development Region is located in the central part of the Romanian Plain and includes the Bucharest municipality (the capital of Romania) and Ilfov County. Man-made hazards can involve casualties and environmental pollution, also being recognized for the generated social, environmental and economic impacts. The current study entails the regional assessment of multiple man-made hazards (sometimes referred to as technological hazards) in one of the most developed Development Regions in Romania, i.e. Bucharest-Ilfov Development Region. The research is based on the identification, selection and spatial distribution of some of significant man-made hazards (e.g. related to radioactive substances, industrial activities, dam failure) in the study area in order to determine the potential to affect nearly 11.5% of RomanianпїЅs population and 0.8% of its surface. The highest rate of active enterprises in Romania (28.6% in Ilfov County) increases the probability of the study-area to be affected by technological hazards. The research findings point to a significant number of man-made hazards related to radioactive substances (the National Institute for Research and Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering), industrial units (19 industrial units falling under Seveso II Directive on the management of major accidents involving dangerous substances and nearly 80 under Industrial Emissions Directive - IED), dam failure (e.g. Lacul Morii Dam) etc. Apart from the environmental pollution and damages that can cause within a country, man-made hazards can frequently affect neighbouring countries, thus having a significant cross-border impact.

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