From David Edge
Derby
Carlo Bassani cites the spectre of Bhopal to gain support for retaining the
Facility for Investigating Runaway Events Safely (FIRES) through public funds
(This Week, 29 March, p 12).
However, greater understanding of the chemistry of methyl isocyanate was
irrelevant to the disaster at Bhopal. It was well understood that the substance
was extremely dangerous—this is clear because many safety features were
built into the plant. What matters is why these safety systems failed.
In any case, the process design was flawed, in that there was no need for
bulk storage of methyl isocyanate, which could have been manufactured as it was
needed.
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Public support is perhaps needed for research into why the wealthy chemical
industry believes it needs public subsidy to push chemical technology to even
more deadly and marginal extremes.
