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The terrorists are seeking ways to attack the supply line of important goods and may cause damage to the environment, food, and the neighboring sea life. To prevent such an attack, the developing countries are doing major work in research and development of systems to detect such chemicals/explosives, which may be used by the terrorist groups to attack the developed nations. Risk assessment in detecting and preventing terrorist attacks is used to determine the accident sequences that lead to system failures, to remove weak links of the system, and also to help those who regulate the shipping and port establishments.

Needs in practical use of health risk (HR) assessment and analysis in Russia began to rise at the end of the 80s. They came from decision making on the radiation and social protection of population on the territories that suffered from Chernobyl and other radiation accidents, nuclear weapon tests, etc. The current ecological and public health protection regulation concerning the development of hazardous industries, especially the fuel-power complex, appeal also to HR analysis. In recent years, the growing need for HR assessment has been observed in the activity connected with utilization of nuclear submarines and rehabilitation of the corresponding contaminated territories. According to the preliminary results of HR assessment, chemical contamination can produce a higher impact on population and occupational workers' health than ionizing radiation (IR).

RRC “Kurchatov Institute” has been involved in the development of HR assessment tools (methodology, computer modules, and data bases) and the regulatory aspects of the use of HR analysis in decision making, case studies, etc. One of the directions of this development is to produce a common and transparent basis for HR assessment of different sources of risk and the basis for complex decision making.

A number of factors create the complexity of HR analysis and decision making. Series of different risk indices are needed in HR assessment and their aggregation continues to be an intractable problem. HRs competition principally makes nonlinear any decision-making task. The necessity for economic evaluation of population health damage in the decision making adds an additional dimension.

Current different approaches in risk assessment and establishing safety standards, developed for IR, chemicals, and other sources of harm, are analyzed. Some recommendations are given to produce a common approach. A specific individual risk index ℜ has been proposed for safety decision making: establishing safety standards and other levels of protective actions, comparison of various sources of risk, etc. The index ℜ is defined as the partial mathematical expectation of lost years of healthy life due to exposure during a year to a risk source considered. The more concrete determinations of this index for different risk sources derived from the common definition of ℜ are given. Generic safety standards (GSS) for the public and occupational workers have been suggested in terms of this index. Secondary specific safety standards have been derived from GSS for IR and a number of other risk sources including environmental chemical pollutants. Other general and derived levels for decision making have also been proposed. Recommendations are given on methods and criteria for comparison of various sources of risk. Some examples of risk comparison are demonstrated in the frame of different comparison tasks.

This chapter explores the role of risk assessment in environmental security planning and decision-making at commercial shipping ports and harbors. Environmental risk assessment is a discipline that has matured over the past nearly 50 years, evolving from assessment of chemical exposures on human health and wildlife to comparative analysis of the net risks and benefits to the environment associated with the implementation of different remedy alternatives at contaminated land and sediment sites. In recent years, partly due to the events of 11 September 2001, escalating tensions in poor and under-developed countries, and increasing scarcity of natural resources, several countries and international organizations have raised concerns about environmental security. For commercial and industrial shipping ports, which are often located in heavily populated urban areas and sensitive coastal environments in both developed and developing countries, the application of risk assessment methods is an important first step towards protecting critical industrial, environmental and utility infrastructure and understanding environmental response and prevention requirements and capabilities. In the context of environmental risk assessment, there are at least three security challenges that must be overcome. First, quantitative prediction is needed, with a high degree of confidence, of the range of possible damages and potential threats posed to both human health and the environment. The nature of this work itself poses a security challenge because of the potential sensitivity of the information that must be compiled and evaluated. Second, the information and risk predictions generated by environmental risk assessment to describe the outcome of different possible disaster events and environmental scenarios must be realistic and plausible. And, third, the results of an environmental risk analysis must inform decision-makers of different disaster prevention/response action plans, their associated capital investments, and net impact on risk. Ultimately, the risk assessment process can provide port authorities and local or national government authorities the appropriate tools to prioritize prevention/response actions must be to minimize or prevent scenarios most likely to adversely impact the environment, cause injuries or fatalities to port workers and residents in surrounding communities, and result in short or long-term economic impacts.

Humic substances are considered to be a necessary component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the most persistent part of the decomposing organic matter. In marine environments about 90% of the dissolved carbon, as well as a major part of the sedimentary organic carbon, is humic matter. In the salt marsh estuaries, in addition to the humic matter brought about by rivers, a predominant autochthonous vascular plant Spartina alterniflora serves as a source of humic substances. Estuarine humic substances consist of C, N, and O, containing functional groups that can interact with inorganic elements and organic compounds. In this way humic substances apparently affect the bioavailability and toxicity of different pollutants. Although they could be used and structurally transformed by natural assemblages of microorganisms in some way, a considerable part of estuarine humic substances persist, apparently because of their adsorption on mineral components of estuarine sediments such as clay minerals. Due to their specific characteristics, including natural longevity in ecosystems, humic substances represent a natural factor apparently lowering ecological risk in salt marsh estuaries.

The first technological risk assessment in the Republic of Croatia was accomplished in 1994. Since then, this procedure has been applied in various fields with different goals and according to different methodologies. However, it can be stated that the total number of assessments performed so far is limited.

In the majority of cases the basic objective of technological risk assessment implementation was to meet legal obligations. According to the valid legislation of the Republic of Croatia, the risk assessments have to be made within the scope of the emergency planning, with the objective of reducing unacceptable risks in the company’s manufacturing, processing, storing, or transporting hazardous substances and within the framework of environmental impact assessment (EIA). The minor part of the risk assessments has been executed on the initiative of operators of the potentially hazardous facilities, on the encouragement of local authorities or under the pressure of the local population. The results of the implementation of these assessments have been used to optimize allocations for operational safety, for needs of spatial planning, and with the objective of setting safety priorities in large industrial areas.

In the paper examples of risk assessment applications in the Republic of Croatia are given. The examples are related to the industrial zones located near major population centers, development of plans and procedures for off-site nuclear emergency preparedness, oil and gas processing and crude oil transport by pipeline. The examples include the objectives of implementation, the descriptions of applied methodology and the main results.

According to the opinion of the authors, in the Republic of Croatia the procedure of technological risk assessment has not yet been recognized as a useful decisionmaking support tool. Such opinion is based on the number of performed assessments as well as on their effects. Some of the main reasons for the adverse state are undoubtedly the following: lack of information, unfavorable economic situation, low level of safety culture, modest possibilities of education, and distrust of the profession.

One of the steps directed towards the improvement of the situation could be the founding of a nonprofit institution called “Risk Analysis Institute.” Establishing of the Institute should facilitate knowledge transfer concerning the field of risk analysis to interested parties in the Republic of Croatia. The Institute should cover the area of technological and other kinds of risks, and among other things it should have a promotional, educational, and advisory role. The projects of the Institute would be carried out in cooperation with the economy, state institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. In accordance with the plans, the Institute could start work in 2005.

The coastal aquifer, one of Israel's major water resources, is becoming increasingly polluted. Several wells in major urban areas were closed down because they contained contaminants at levels considered harmful to human health. Groundwater contamination is exacerbated due to irrigation with treated effluents and underground water quality has become a major concern regarding future supply of water in the country. While secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment processes can decrease most pollutants including nitrates, salinity level is higher in effluents than in influents and should be treated. Desalination processes can be applied to saline aquifers, to National Carrier water, or to unconventional water sources including wastewater or seawater.

Our work examines different options of treating water supply sources. The assessment procedure was based on a multidisciplinary approach, including economic, hydrological, technological, agricultural, social, political, and environmental criteria. The economic criteria include the size of the initial investment and cost-benefit analysis. The hydrological criteria include the derived aquifer salinity through time. The technological criteria include the relevant treatment processes and their adaptation to the region’s conditions. The agricultural criteria include the effect on crops. The social criteria include the effect on the employment rate. Finally, the environmental criteria include the effect on soil salinity and energy use that may causes greenhouse gas emissions. Other criteria include the effect on Israel’s image in the world and on its ability to export agricultural products.

These criteria were combined using multi-criteria decision analysis to arrive at a risk assessment of the various treatment processes and to decide on the optimal water treatment option that will ensure the health of the population as well as the quality and safety of the coastal water and the environment.

The choice of the area under investigation takes into consideration several important aspects: heavily populated villages; type of drinking water as groundwater; its situation on the west side of the Nile near the intersection point between the Nile and its Delta; its neighborhood to the desert of Giza governorate; and its closeness to highly industrial and agricultural activities. The present study is an extension of an early study on drinking groundwater in the southern part of the area under investigation, namely Kafr Hakim village. The current paper covers an area from Kafr Hakim in the south to Nekla in the north, surrounded by the Moheet drain in the east and the Mansourya canal in the west.

Twenty ground and surface water samples were taken from some wells of depths from 20 – 100 m and from some surface water drains in the same area. The exact positioning of each sample was precisely determined using GPS instruments. The samples were analyzed and environmentally characterized through various important cations such as Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cd, Zn, Pb, Fe and Mn, using atomic absorption technique. The anions determined using either spectrophotometric or ion-chromatographic methods; they included bicarbonate, sulphate, acetate, chlorides, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates. All above-measured parameters were presented using the newly developed geographic information systems (GIS), which facilitates the presentation of final results. This manuscript sheds light on the evaluation of these water samples as potable according to international and the Egyptian regulations. Also a trial is made to explain any unusual and abnormal data with some recommendations for remediation.

The Lithuanian continental seaside track is not long but there are plenty of wonderful places where people cut themselves from the daily life in city, to have a rest and spend their leisure. This region is strategically important for Lithuania from an economic point of view, as well as from a recreational and environmental perspective. In Lithuania there is only one state seaport and the Būtingė Oil Terminal. Most pollution incidents happen in these two places and, therefore, it is easier to make controls and find polluters. Environmental monitoring on Lithuania Baltic Sea coastal waters is carried out by two different types of monitoring programs: the National Environmental Monitoring Programme and the monitoring programs of Economic Units.

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland water body in the world and of great importance for the socioeconomic development of bordering countries. The Caspian Sea’ws unique fish resources and oil and gas fields are projected to provide a significant source of food and economic prosperity to the Caspian region, as well as energy to many parts of the world. This paper illustrates the need for objective assessment of transboundary risks on a regional scale. On the whole, the main threats to environmental security in the Caspian region are well known, though not fully evaluated. Risk analysis can be an important tool for identifying different challenges, revealing new hazards, assessing risks and, consequently, providing decision makers with options for mitigating both short- and long-term negative impacts on the regional economy and deterioration of the environment.

The Canakkale Strait (Dardanelles) is a water passage connecting the Aegean Sea and the Marmara Sea. Its NE/SW trend is interrupted by a north-south bend between Eceabat and Canakkale. The width of the Strait varies from 1.35 to 7.73 km, the narrowest part located between Canakkale and Kilitbahir. The average depth of the Strait is approximately 60 m; the deepest part reaches more than 100 m. The aim of this study is to determine the locations of fresh water discharge into the Canakkale Strait. For this purpose, 52 sample points were selected in the study area. The temperature, pH and salinity were measured at different depths of water in the Canakkale Strait (1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 m). A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to create a tabular and spatial database, with the aim of integrating the physical properties in the Canakkale Strait. The results of this study show that discharge of fresh water is seen in four locations on the southeastern coast between Dardanos and Canakkale, and that the Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea water are mixing between Canakkale and Kilitbahir. In the future, these sources of fresh water may be needed as population increases in the region. However, water pollution in the Canakkale Strait may limit the use of this fresh water.