Event-tree analysis using binary decision diagrams

This paper is concerned with ETA (event-tree analysis) where the branch point event causes are defined using fault trees. Attention is on the nontrivial situation where there are dependencies amongst the branch point events. The dependencies are due to component-failures in more than one of the fault trees. In these situations the analysis methods based on traditional FTA (fault-tree analysis) are inaccurate and inefficient. The inaccuracies are not consistent across the outcome events. If frequency predictions calculated in this way are then used in a risk assessment then the relative risks would be distorted and could lead to resources being used inappropriately to reduce the overall risk. A new approach using BDD (binary decision diagram) is described which addresses these deficiencies.