Risk Penalty Functions for Hazardous Waste Management

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Abstract
The problem of regional hazardous waste management may be expressed as a transportation network optimization using either cost or risk penalty functions. Risk management has some very attractive features in this application since lingering doubt about hazardous waste dangers is one of the major impediments to solving our current problems. This paper presents an algorithm to generate risk penalty functions for optimization planning; The method has been designed to use existing risk ranking/rating techniques, and to accommodate the relatively high degree of parameter unsurety that exists at early stages of facility planning. The algorithm has also been designed around an explicit analytical solution of the resulting “fuzzy” matrix problem so that it may be implemented rapidly by a microcomputer. This allows the procedure to be executed in a non‐intimidating planning atmosphere with strong userinteractive support. It is believed that algorithmic approaches of this type will be of great assistance to hazardous waste professionals, public decision makers, environmentalists, and the parties at risk in resolving the tumultuous differences that often result from public hazardous waste deliberations.

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