INERIS
INERIS (France) has a mission of assessing and preventing both chronic and accidental risks to people and environment due to industrial plants, chemical substances and underground operations. INERIS is a kind of Public Institution with industrial and commercial dimensions, working under the general supervision for the French Ministry for the Environment and Land Use Planning. The Institute was founded in 1990 as a result of a merge between two previously well known technical centres named CERCHAR (National Research Centre for Coal Mines) and IRCHA (Applied chemical research Institute). INERIS conducts research and expertise activities requested by the public authorities and industrial operators. It comprises teams of chemists, physicists, physicians, ecotoxicologists, veterinary surgeons, economists, statisticians and specialists in risk assessment, (about 450 persons including 250 scientists and staff members).