Incident involving the transport of CBRNe substances
Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNe) substances can be dangerous if not handled or packaged correctly. This may pose a risk to people and the environment.
The United Nations has established a universal system for the classification, packaging, marking and labelling of dangerous materials. As a result, these substances can be transported in complete safety.
Risks and causes
Causes
What can you do?
The right reflexes to take when transporting CBRNe substances vary according to the type of substance released. Check our advice in the event of
- Release of biological substances
- Release of chemicals
- Release of nuclear substances
- Release of radioactive substances
- Discharge of explosive substances
Impact and probability
The figures relating to probability and impact describe an extreme incident when transporting CBRNe substances. The BNRA theoretically describes such a scenario as follows:
- An explosion causes a CBRN consignment to leak.
- This affects an area of over 3 km2. This area is densely populated, with various infrastructure, including other CBRNe installations.
- The urban environment increases the risk of damage and complicates the work of the emergency services.
How should you interpret these results?
Within the BNRA, experts assessed three scenarios for each risk: considerable, major or extreme. On each page, you will find the results of the scenario with the highest score based on the combination of likelihood and impact. This does not mean that this scenario will occur or is the most likely. Read more here about how to correctly interpret the results.
Probability
Very weak
Human impact
Moderate
Societal impact
Moderate
Environmental impact
Weak
Financial impact
Moderate
What do the authorities do?
The FPS Mobility and Transport is responsible for the transport of dangerous goods by rail, sea and air. In addition, the different regions are responsible for the transport of dangerous goods by road and inland waterways, as well as for the training and certification of safety advisers (rail transport). Find out more here.
For the transport of explosive and radioactive materials (class 7), the competent authorities are respectively the FPS Economy, SMEs, Middle Classes and Energy and the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control - (FANC) for all modes of transport, nationwide.
A CBRNe centre of expertise was set up within the National Crisis Center in 2018. It helps partners to make CBRNe emergency plans operational, offers support in crisis management, and participates in training for intervention services.
A CBRNe incident always requires multidisciplinary management and/or coordination at national level. Depending on the nature of the incident, different emergency plans can be triggered in the event of a CBRNe risk, for example the nuclear and radiological emergency plan or the CBRNe terrorism emergency plan.