Evaluation of occupational exposure to ELF magnetic fields at power plants in Greece in the context of European directives

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to comparatively present the extremely low-frequency (ELF) measurements performed at four power plants in Greece, focusing on: (a) the worst-case exposure conditions, (b) the existence of magnetic field harmonic components, (c) the technical similarities among the power plants and (d) comparison of the measured percentages of reference levels at typical working areas in the power plants. A detailed measurement methodology is proposed, including broadband on-site inspection of the working areas, weighted averaged root-mean-square and peak values of magnetic flux density, percentage of reference levels, according to 1998 ICNIRP guidelines and harmonic analysis of the multi-frequency magnetic fields. During the analysis of the occupational exposure in all power plants, the new Directive 2013/35/EU has been taken into account. The study concludes by proposing a mapping procedure of working areas into certain zones, in order to take measures for workers safety.

Αξιολόγηση Της Επαγγελματικής Έκθεσης Σε Ηλεκτρομαγνητικά Πεδία

“…An additional to the EN50499 zone 3 has been proposed (252). Zone 3 corresponds to working areas where high ALs may be exceeded and it should have clear borders and be accessed only by expert personnel for specific time periods and according to the maintenance needs (Figure 7.3).…”