Probabilistic risk assessment techniques help identify potential hazards in vapor vacuum extraction

The analysis discussed in this paper was performed as part of the buried waste remediation efforts at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The specific type of remediation involved the extraction of volatile organics from the ground using a specially-designed system. Computer models of the proposed system were developed using probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) fault tree and event tree modeling techniques. These models were used to confirm the usefulness of the system design and to identify potential hazards of use of the system. In addition to identifying dominant contributors to risk, the models were also used to show, quantitatively, the associated levels of risk from other expressed sources of concern. 1 ref., 2 figs.