Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

CONSEQUENCE MITIGATION

PO-CHING DELAURENTIS, MARK LAWLEY, AND DULCY M. ABRAHAM

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

1 INTRODUCTION

The 1998 President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection identified telecommunications, energy systems, water supply systems, transportation, banking and finance, and emergency and government services as essential core infrastructures for our modern society. A later national plan for critical infrastructure protection developed jointly by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), identified other key infrastructures such as agriculture and food, the defense industrial base, national monuments and icons, dams, commercial facilities, nuclear reactors, and materials and waste [1].

The increase in terrorist activities around the world, the possible use of weapons of mass destruction, and acts of nature such as earthquakes and floods pose threats to the security of various civil infrastructure systems. Further, increasing population concentrations have significantly stressed many infrastructure systems [2]. These factors combined with the cascading effects of system failures in power grids, telecommunication networks, transportation systems, and so on, intensify the need for effective disaster response planning and mitigation strategies.

Many definitions have been proposed for disaster/hazard/consequence mitigation. In this article, consequence mitigation ...