Les autres risques technologiques

Commissariat général au développement durableJul 21, 2020

Les risques technologiques recouvrent les risques industriels, nucléaires et biologiques. Cinq sources de risque technologique majeur sont présentes en France : les installations industrielles, les installations nucléaires, les grands barrages, les transports de matières dangereuses et les sites miniers. Les accidents technologiques majeurs se caractérisent par une faible fréquence et par une gravité importante en termes de victimes et de dommages aux biens et à l’environnement. La France comporte sur son territoire un millier d’établissements dits « Seveso » et 125 installations nucléaires de base. Elle est également traversée par de nombreux convois de transport de matières dangereuses.

Technological risks cover industrial, nuclear and biological risks. Five major sources of technological risk are present in France: industrial installations, nuclear installations, major dams, transport of dangerous materials and mining sites. Major technological accidents are characterized by low frequency and significant severity in terms of casualties and damage to property and the environment. France has over a thousand so-called "Seveso" establishments and 125 nuclear installations of strategic importance on its territory. It is also crossed by numerous convoys transporting dangerous materials.

3 chapters

Sources and exposure to technological risks
Definition and sources
Technological risks cover in particular risks to health, safety and the environment, as well as industrial, nuclear, chemical risks induced by human activities. Sources of technological risks include: industrial installations, nuclear installations, transport of dangerous materials, mining sites (referred to as the "post-mining" phase), major dams.
Exposed municipalities
• At the end of 2018, 18,000 municipalities exposed to technological risks were identified in France. • Among these municipalities, 545 (or 3% of at-risk municipalities) are affected by at least three technological risks, 3,434 by two types of technological risks. • Half of these municipalities are located in the departments of Isère, Pas-de-Calais, Loire, Aube, Gard, Rhône and Bouches-du-Rhône.
Technological risk prevention plans
Objective and legal framework
• Technological Risk Prevention Plans (PPRT) aim to regulate urban development around establishments classified as Seveso. • They were established by the law of July 30, 2003 relating to the prevention of technological and natural risks and the compensation for damages and its implementing decree of September 7, 2005.
PPRT progress
• Thus, a PPRT must be developed for each establishment (or group of establishments) classified as Seveso. • 388 PPRTs affecting more than 900 municipalities must be developed. • In January 2019, 380 PPRTs are approved, representing 98% of the plans.
Technological accidents
1992-2017 accident summary
• Between 1992 and 2017, nearly 40,000 technological accidents occurred in France in industrial installations, farms, during transport of dangerous materials, on gas or dangerous material pipelines, on dikes and hydraulic dams, in mines, in quarries and during the use of gas or pressure equipment. • These technological accidents can lead to numerous damages with multiple levels of severity: human consequences (deaths or injuries) in 18% of cases, economic (69%), social (29%), environmental (34%). • Between 1992 and 2017, 16% of technological accidents resulted in pollution of surface or groundwater, 9% in atmospheric pollution, 5% in soil contamination, and 4% harmed wildlife or wild flora.
NaTech accidents
• Over the same period, France recorded 1,089 "NaTech" accidents. • These accidents result from the impact of a natural disaster on an industrial installation. • Floods, extreme temperatures, lightning, ground movements, earthquakes and storms can cause an industrial accident and harm areas outside the industrial site, people, property or the environment.

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