Lately there has been an increasing interest in using Structural Relia
bility Analysis (SRA) methods in Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA). The
Bayesian approach seems to be the most applied framework for the inte
grated analyses. It is, however, not clear what the Bayesian approach
really means. There exist alternative Bayesian approaches, and the int
egration of SRA methods and QRA is very much dependent on what is the
basis. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a clarification a
nd give some guidance with respect to the choice of approach. The star
ting point is our experience from the petroleum sector, but the discus
sion is to large extent general. We conclude that the most suitable fr
amework for integrating SRA methods in QRA is to adopt the ''fully Bay
esian approach'' with focus on observable quantities and use of subjec
tive probabilities. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
.