ASME completes RAMCAP guidelines for two new sectors

The ASME Innovative Technologies Institute LLC (ASME-ITI) recently completed two new sector-specific guidance (SSG) documents under a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The documents apply ASME-ITI's risk analysis methodology RAMCAP (Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection) to water and wastewater utilities and to conventional dams and navigation locks.

Created and developed by ASME-ITI and adopted by the Department of Homeland Security, RAMCAP is a framework for analyzing and managing the risks associated with terrorist attacks against critical infrastructures. The purpose of RAMCAP is to provide essential information to government decision makers about consequences and vulnerabilities in the private sector, which owns 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure.

RAMCAP is unique in that it facilitates the comparison of risks within a sector and across multiple sectors by employing a common terminology and standardized measurement metrics. The RAMCAP methodology is a seven-step process for assets analysis — asset characterization, threat characterization, consequence analysis, vulnerability analysis, threat assessment, risk assessment, and risk management.

The process is then tailored to specific aspects of various sectors of the critical infrastructure in documents called SSGs. The SSGs enable companies and utilities to identify and report on the vulnerabilities and potential consequences of terrorism by providing guidance on how to complete both preliminary and in-depth assessments.

The SSG for the Water Sector was completed in cooperation with DHS, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many Water Sector security partners. For the first time under the RAMCAP program, existing risk tools in the sector were modified to be RAMCAP-consistent. The modified tools will better enable drinking and wastewater utilities to conduct risk analyses of their systems, including the analysis of natural hazards. The SSG for the Dams Sector was completed in cooperation with DHS, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the owners and operators of dams across the nation.

"We have now completed RAMCAP guidance for seven industry sectors and we believe that a comparative risk framework continues to be needed for decision makers to properly allocate finite resources for risk reduction," said Reese Meisinger, president and CEO of ASME-ITI. "We continue to seek new public and private sector partners that will join our effort to protect the nation's critical infrastructure." Those industry sectors include nuclear power plants, nuclear spent fuel storage and transportation, chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and liquefied natural gas terminals.


ASME-ITI is a not-for-profit limited liability company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of ASME. ASME-ITI provides market-relevant engineering and technology-based products and services to government, industry, and academic markets.

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