Oman to enforce electricity safety regulations by end 2010

By V L Srinivasan

Muscat, Feb 3: Sharing public concern over the possible health risks due to radiations emanating from electrical assets, the Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) has decided to enforce the Extremely Low Frequency Electric and Magnetic Field (ELF-EMF) regulations across the sultanate by the end of this year.

By doing so, Oman will become the first country in the GCC region to have such regulations in place. Only 30 countries worldwide, including 21 in Europe, have been enforcing them.

Announcing the decision at a seminar on ELF-EMF Regulations held under the auspices of PAEW chairman H E Mohammed Abdullah al Mahrouqi in Muscat on Tuesday, AER executive director and member John Cunneen said that the AER would gather feedback from various sections in the first quarter of this year, follow it up by holding discussions with PAEW and other stakeholders and put the regulations in place by December. “This will be applicable only to all new lines and electrical equipment which will be installed in public places once the regulations come into force,” he said.

Following complaints from general public, Diwan of Royal Court Affairs and media reports suggesting that long-term exposure to the radiation from overhead and underground power lines was resulting in leukemia, especially among children, the AER has retained the services of KEMA, an independent company specialised in technical energy consultancy, to study the issue and submit a report.

While KEMA representatives conducted the study at 20 places including the Royal Camps across the sultanate during winter, the AER has requested Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) officials to study the problem at the same places during summer.

The findings submitted by KEMA and SQU officials indicated that the exposure limits were much lower than those recommended by the International Commission on Non Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

However, the AER will enforce the regulations as per the recommendations of the KEMA to allay such apprehensions among people, Cunneen said. KEMA has urged the AER to implement supplementary precautionary measures like enforcement of minimum clearance zones around newly constructed overhead power lines.