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

CHARACTERIZING INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURE INTERDEPENDENCIES TO INFORM SYSTEMIC RISK

TIMOTHY MCDANIELS AND STEPHANIE CHANG

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

DOROTHY A. REED

University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

1 SCIENTIFIC OVERVIEW

Critical infrastructure systems, sometimes referred to as lifelines, provide vital services for societal functions. Until recently, planning and management for provision of these services has focused on individual infrastructure systems. Yet, analysts, planners, and decision makers increasingly recognize that these systems are highly interconnected and mutually interdependent in a number of ways [1, 2]. For example, the US government established the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center to examine infrastructure interdependencies through modeling and simulation [3].

Infrastructure systems have become more congested and thus increasingly vulnerable to failures due to interactions within and between systems. The electrical power delivery system is a prime example. It has increased risk of large-scale failures, due to increasing demands on the system that have not been met by a corresponding increase in capacity [4]. Major power outages, affecting 1 million or more people, occur about every 4 months on an average in the United States [3]. This research examines infrastructure interdependencies by focusing on major outages in the electrical system and the effects these outages have on other infrastructures. Extreme ...