Safety issues related to synthetic-fuels facilities

The design, siting, construction, operation, and decommissioning of coal gasification, coal liquefaction, and oil shale facilities could present safety risks both to synfuels workers and to the environmental system unless careful controls are exercised. Many of these hazards are expected to be similar to those associated with conventional mining, mineral processing, coking operations, and refining of petroleum. However, because of the chemical and physical properties of coal and shale and their products, the types of technologies to be employed, and the scales of their operations, it has been suggested that unconventional hazards may occur. Issues which summarize the deliverations and work of the Committee on Synthetic Fuels Facilities Safety in evaluating the various technologies and their potentials for unconventional safety hazards are described in Chapters 2 and 3 of the report.