DOES THE OPERTAIONAL SAFETY OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY EXHIBIT SELF-ORGANISED CRITICALITY?

Abstract eng:
Many researchers have highlighted the ubiquity of a type of behaviour which self-organises into a state of criticality, with many examples both in nature and in man-made systems. Such a system is called a Self-Organising Critical System (SOCS). It is argued that operational safety of the energy industry exhibits characteristics of self-organized criticality. Many composite systems naturally evolve to a critical state in which a minor event starts a chain reaction that can affect any number of elements in the system. Although composite systems produce more minor events than catastrophes, chain reactions of all size are an integral part of the dynamics. According to the theory, the mechanism that leads to minor events is the same one that leads to major events. Furthermore, composite systems never reach equilibrium but instead evolve from one metastable state to the next. One of the primary characteristics of Self Organised Critical Systems is a power-law relationship between severity (fatality and injury) and frequency of events, which can be demonstrated for the operational safety of the energy industry.

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