12.4 EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS12.4 EMERGENCY EIUVIROIUMEIUTAL SYSTEMSThe basic design philosophy of the Enterprise environmentalsupport systems is for extreme reliability coupled withmultiple redundancy. Nevertheless, Starfleet recognizes theunknown hazards to which <strong>star</strong>ships and their crews areoften exposed, and has provided yet another layer of preparednessfor potential environmental crisis situations.The purpose of these emergency environmental supportsystems is to provide suitable life support for the crew forperiods of time sufficient for the Engineering staff to restorenormal function to either primary system or to the reservesystem. The first element of this is an emergency backupsystem designed to provide shipwide lighting and atmosphericsupply for approximately thirty minutes. This is intendedto allow an orderly evacuation of all ship's personnelto emergency support shelters. These shelters are thesecond element of the emergency environmental supportsystem.through the unprotected portions of the vehicle for possiblerepair or rescue operations (See: 14.4).OTHER SCENARIOSA lesser environmental support failure may result in oneor more areas being rendered uninhabitable. In such cases,the Commanding Officer may opt to evacuate the affectedareas in order to protect crew personnel or to conserve lifesupport capacity. Another option in the event of anticipatedenvironmental systems failure is to evacuate personnel toshelter areas to minimize risk in the event that switchover toemergency backups is necessary.A more severe failure could force the evacuation of eitherthe entire Saucer Module or Stardrive Section, with the crewtaking refuge in the unaffected section. In such cases,environmental engineering personnel could remain in thedamaged section to attempt repairs.CONTINGENCY ATMOSPHERIC AND POWER SUPPLYSupplementing the two redundant primary atmosphericsupport systems and reserve backup system is the contingencyatmospheric and power supply system. This systemconsists of 425 self-contained air supply and power moduleslocated throughout the ship at many corridor junctions.The principal elements of these modules include ventilationfans, cryogenic oxygen storage, CO 2 scrubbers, emergencylights, and batteries. In the event of a total failure of allprimary and reserve systems, these units provide approximatelythirty minutes of atmosphere and lighting throughoutthe ship, allowing all personnel to take sanctuary in designatedenvironmental support shelters.EMERGENCY SHELTERSIn the event of major shipwide failure of environmentalsupport, personnel can be instructed to report to one of fiftytwoemergency shelter areas located throughout the habitablevolume of the vehicle. Each designated shelter area isdesigned to sustain up to sixty-five crew members for up tothirty-six hours, assuming a minimum level of external support.These areas receive priority life support from a seriesof dedicated, protected utilities trunks so that they can remainhabitable even in the event of major system outages elsewherein the spacecraft.These shelters are also equipped with independentemergency breathing gas, water, food, and power suppliesfor up to twenty-four hours of operation, even with no supportfrom other ship's systems. Emergency shelters are alsoequipped with at least two emergency pressure garment(EPG) environment suits, allowing crew personnel to travelIn the episode "Night Terrors," the Ten Forward lounge was established to be a designated emergency environmental supportshelter.
12.5 WASTE MANAGEMENT12.5 WASTE MANAGEMENTThe USS Enterprise, like most large deep-space vehicles,sustains a closed ecological system to maintain environmentalsupport. Unlike a planetary biosphere, however, a<strong>star</strong>ship must use technologic means to approximate thecomplex ecologic processes that sustain life. Among theseprocesses aboard the Enterprise are the waste managementsystems, which make optimal reuse of waste products. Withoutsuch recycling, the ship would be unable to carry sufficientfood and water for the extended voyages required by manyStarfleet missions.WATER AND SEWAGE RECYCLINGEach crew member aboard the Enterprise typically generatesapproximately 52 liters of wastewater and sewage perday. This wastewater is pumped to treatment and recyclingunits located in the environmental support complexes onDecks 6,13, and 24. Preliminary treatment is accomplishedby a series of mechanical filtration processes that removesolids and particulates. (The residue is conveyed to theorganic waste processing system for further treatment andrecycling.) Osmotic and electrolytic fractioning is then employedto remove dissolved and microscopic contaminants fortreatment and recycling. The resulting water is superheatedto 150°C for biological sterilization before being subjected toa final mechanical filtration stage, then it is returned to one ofseveral freshwater storage tanks for reuse.The various waste sludges recovered from the waterrecycling processes are a valuable resource. The organicwaste processing system subjects the sludge to a series ofsterilizing heat and radiation treatments. The waste is thenelectrolytically reprocessed into an organic particulate suspensionthat serves as the raw material for the food synthesizersystems. Remaining byproducts are conveyed to thesolid waste processing system for matter replication recycling.items, which constitute approximately 82% of all solid waste,include articles of clothing, packaging and other discardedcontainers, and small personal articles. These items areconveyed to a series of dedicated processors that first sterilizethe waste products, then reduce them to a recyclable form(such as the processed fiber packets from which uniforms andother garments are fabricated). Hazardous materials (suchas toxic, biohazard, and radioactive substances) are separated,and the remaining unrecoverable material is stored formatter replication recycling.MATTER REPLICATION RECYCLINGMaterial that cannot be directly recycled by mechanicalor chemical means is stored for matter synthesis recycling.This is accomplished by molecular matrix replicators thatactually dematerialize the waste materials and rematerializethem in the form of desired objects or materials stored incomputer memory. While this process provides an enormousvariety of useful items, it is very energy intensive and manyeveryday consumables (such as water and clothing) arerecycled by less energy intensive mechanical or chemicalmeans. Certain types of consumables (such as foodstuffs)are routinely recycled using matter replication because thisresults in a considerable savings of stored raw material (See:13.5).HAZARDOUS WASTE RECYCLINGApproximately 5% of all liquid and solid wastes areconsidered to be hazardous materials under toxicity, reactivity,biohazard, or radioactivity standards. Such materials areseparated from other waste materials and are immediatelydiverted to a matter replicator, which converts them to inertcarbon particles. This material is then stored for matterreplication recycling.SOLID WASTE RECYCLINGSolid waste such as trash is conveyed to processing unitson Decks 9, 13, and 34 by means of linear induction utilityconduits. Incoming solid waste is automatically scanned andclassified as to type and composition. Items that can berecycled with mechanical reprocessing are separated. SuchThe Star Trek production company has been making its own efforts toward recycling the resources of planet Earth. Bins havebeen placed in the production offices as weilas on the soundstages for the recycling of aluminum, paper, glass, and plastics,an effort spearheaded by Star Trek craft services person John Nesterowicz. (Particularly good use is made of our paperrecycling bins, as a television company goes through a lot of paper to do its work.) The use of ozone-threatening,nondegradable plastic foam coffee cups has been abolished on our shooting stages, as well. During the filming of the movieStar Trek VI, director Nick Meyer ordered recycling bins placed on those stages, as well. Star Trek and Paramount Pictureshave also embarked upon a major effort to reduce the creation of air pollutants by eliminating the use of certain types of spraylacquers for set painting and some types of special effects smoke and fog machines. Other environmentally conscious effortsoffered by the studio include programs to encourage employee carpooling and company-sponsored discount bus passes.Some of these measures are quite costly in terms of finding acceptable substitutes, but all agree that the goal of protectingour environment is worth it.
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