The ENergy-related Severe Accident Database (ENSAD) collects accidents in the energy sector that occurred in various energy chains since 1970. ENSAD takes a full-chain approach because accidents can occur at all stages of an energy chain and not only at the actual power generation step. In ENSAD, data on all energy-related accidents is collected and classified into energy chains and activities within those chains. In addition, information on location, accident type, and different types of consequences (e.g. human health, environmental and economic impacts) is coded for to achieve a comprehensive global coverage of severe accidents. ENSAD is developed using proprieatory (commercial) and publicly available (non-commercial) primary information sources, such as industrial databases, technical reports, journal and newspaper articles, websites, etc., The database focuses on severe accidents since industries, stakeholders, decision-makers, etc., are more concerned about them, although small accidents have been collected for specific projects. ENSAD uses seven criteria to distinguish between severe and smaller accidents. Whenever one or more of the following consequences is met, an accident is considered to be severe:
- at least 5 fatalities or
- at least 10 injured or
- at least 200 evacuees or
- extensive ban on consumption of food or
- releases of hydrocarbons exceeding 10,000 (metric) tons or
- enforced cleanup of land and water over an area of at least 25 km2 or
- economic loss of at least 5 million USD (2000)
An open version of the database can be accessed upon registration at https://www.ensad.ch