Industrial emergency planning modeling: a first step toward a robustness analysis tool.

The purpose of this paper is to present a model-based approach to the analysis of the robustness of industrial emergency plans, established by the European Union SEVESO II Directive. Robustness is defined in terms of the capacity of the mechanism to respond to deteriorated conditions. Analysis of emergency plans has been so far based mainly upon lessons learned from past major accidents or exercises, which do not allow for an integral analysis of the response mechanism.