Vulnerability maps for industrial facilities in areas with the potential volcanic ash fallout

Following recent natural disasters which have had a significant impact on chemical plants, the study of NaTech risks (Natural and Technological Risk) has increased. Several methods to approach this type of risk have been presented during recent years. This work is focused on the study of volcanic NaTech and aims to define a procedure for the development and management of vulnerability maps of industrial facilities in areas subject to potential volcanic ash fallout. These maps are a useful tool for Environmental Protection Authorities to handle emergencies, particularly if implemented on a GIS (Geographic Information System). In this paper vulnerability maps related to the potential damage to storage tanks have been produced using specific models correlating the threshold values of volcanic ash deposit, causing a specific failure, and the exceedance probability of these critical values