Infrastructure plays a vital role in supporting society; we rely on it to provide the most basic essentials of life. If major infrastructure assets were to fail, the effects would be catastrophic. Failure of our water, energy, waste and transport systems would cause damage to the environment, huge cost to the economy, and without doubt loss of life.
Recently we have come perilously close to witnessing the destruction that infrastructure failure has the potential to cause. For example, in 2007 the Atomic Weapons Establishment site at Burghfield in Berkshire was flooded and all radiation detection alarms were disabled.
If the flood water had penetrated only a little further it could have led to the spread of radioactive material, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and leaving the area near the factory uninhabitable for centuries.
To make matters even more difficult, preparatory measures begun in 1999 against potential flooding had not been completed in 2007.
It was little more than luck which prevented a radioactive leak at Burghfield. This event and other recent narrow escapes highlight the risks of infrastructure failure and the importance of ensuring our networks are adequately defended.
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