Flixborough was a much smaller.

It was smaller plant, in a smaller community

Smller impact on outside world. - It didn't shut the M1, or cause petrol worries

I don't know about cost, due to both inflation adjustment from Flixborough, and the fact we won't have a cost for Buncefield for some time.


Flixborough did causes dozens of fatalities though (26, IIRC). The explosion there occured in the middle of a working day. The lack of fatalities at Bucefield was down to two things, modern working and saftey practices, and sheer luck.

A modern chemical process plant is much more automated than an equivilent from the 60's. There are simply less people in harms way.