These are:
• Sustainable Development
• Alara principle
• Precautionary principle
• Zero risk principle
Sustainable development comes to the forefront in every political project in all
countries, with the idea of conserving the world as it is. Two questions that follow
are:
• Are we presently living in the best of the worlds?
• Does not the world change irrespective of human action?
The Alara (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle has a better scientific
basis than sustainable development. It was initially used for radioactive protection,
but has been widely used for pollution and in medicine. The principle bases itself on
the assumption that there is a linear and regular relationship between a dose and its
impact, without any threshold. Though this has rarely been verified, it promotes a
prudent approach by the users.
An unproven hypothesis is not valid, according to the scientific method. Unfortunately, the precautionary principle is the exact contrary. “In a risky situation, any
unproven hypothesis should be, momentarily, accepted as valid, even without any
proof”, the main reason being: “Dans le doute, abstiens-toi”. Strictly applied, this
precautionary principle encourages inaction, discourages any progress.
The zero risk principle – often promoted by politicians – states that society
should be free from any risk, but is rarely found in scientific literature. Japan and
California with their earthquakes and typhoons are among the richest regions of the
world. Is this just a coincidence?
To summarise, these principles can be used wisely and become good servants.
Otherwise, if applied blindly just for application’s sake, they will turn into bad
masters.
12.8.5 Risk Reduction Strategies
To reduce risk, it is possible either to:
• consider acting on the risk or hazard,
• take action on the vulnerability
such that the disaster does not happen or that the negative impacts are reduced. It
may be useful to anticipate the possibilities for managing the disaster.
Reduction of the risk rests upon the nature of the risk. Technical risks can be
reduced (see Chap. 9) by using parallel systems. When an airplane is provided with
double or multiple parallel brake and landing gear circuits, the intention is to ensure
that at least one of them works. In contrast, when a country stops using nuclear
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12 Disaster Recovery and Management
• Sustainable Development
• Alara principle
• Precautionary principle
• Zero risk principle
Sustainable development comes to the forefront in every political project in all
countries, with the idea of conserving the world as it is. Two questions that follow
are:
• Are we presently living in the best of the worlds?
• Does not the world change irrespective of human action?
The Alara (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle has a better scientific
basis than sustainable development. It was initially used for radioactive protection,
but has been widely used for pollution and in medicine. The principle bases itself on
the assumption that there is a linear and regular relationship between a dose and its
impact, without any threshold. Though this has rarely been verified, it promotes a
prudent approach by the users.
An unproven hypothesis is not valid, according to the scientific method. Unfortunately, the precautionary principle is the exact contrary. “In a risky situation, any
unproven hypothesis should be, momentarily, accepted as valid, even without any
proof”, the main reason being: “Dans le doute, abstiens-toi”. Strictly applied, this
precautionary principle encourages inaction, discourages any progress.
The zero risk principle – often promoted by politicians – states that society
should be free from any risk, but is rarely found in scientific literature. Japan and
California with their earthquakes and typhoons are among the richest regions of the
world. Is this just a coincidence?
To summarise, these principles can be used wisely and become good servants.
Otherwise, if applied blindly just for application’s sake, they will turn into bad
masters.
12.8.5 Risk Reduction Strategies
To reduce risk, it is possible either to:
• consider acting on the risk or hazard,
• take action on the vulnerability
such that the disaster does not happen or that the negative impacts are reduced. It
may be useful to anticipate the possibilities for managing the disaster.
Reduction of the risk rests upon the nature of the risk. Technical risks can be
reduced (see Chap. 9) by using parallel systems. When an airplane is provided with
double or multiple parallel brake and landing gear circuits, the intention is to ensure
that at least one of them works. In contrast, when a country stops using nuclear
344
12 Disaster Recovery and Management