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HPC in Gas leak of Vishakhapatnam
Why is it in News?
- High Powered Panel found lack of safety protocols and emergency response procedures are causes of styrene vapour leak in the LG Polymers unit at Visakhapatnam.
More on News
- Uncontrolled release of styrene vapour qualifies as a major accident under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989.
- Causes mentioned by HPC
(1) Poor design of the tank
(2) inadequate refrigeration and faulty cooling system,
(3) absence of circulation and mixing system,
(4) poor process safety management system
(5) total breakdown of the emergency response of the procedures
- other observations
(1) temperature in the tank rose substantially. It was a tank with small vents
(2) rise in temperature caused the styrene liquid to eventually vaporize and increase the pressure
(3) alarm system (at the plant) was not used despite there being a total of 36 activation points
(4) factory has “absolutely no stocks of inhibitors and negligible stocks of terminators, which could have been used to minimise the impact of the accident