Asbestos in Thermal Power Plants

With the beginning of the industrial revolution, many thermal power stations flourished in order to provide electricity to our country. Nowadays, thermal power plants are still essential as a source of energy, giving our country the electricity and heat supply it needs. Although the builders of the first power stations recognized the importance of ensuring the health of workers due to the large amount of electricity generated there, some other risks remained.

Due to this generation of large amounts of electricity, the first builders of the power plants were aware of the risk of fire. Unfortunately, the material that was used to isolate the premises was asbestos, which posed a risk to the health of those who came in contact with it. In these places the asbestos was installed in the equipment, the machinery and the pipes, making them more immune to fire.

The areas that specifically used asbestos in their installation were turbines, generators, pipes, valves, joints and boilers. In addition, ceilings, walls and floors frequently used asbestos to protect them internally from fire. Although many of these old plants have been remodeled or upgraded with modern equipment, turbines and asbestos-coated generators were allowed to allow mesothelioma to be a continuing threat.

Government warnings in recent decades have helped eliminate these hazards, since many of the plants have remodeled or encapsulated asbestos materials. However, these remodels or encapsulations have done nothing for those who worked in the past continually exposed to asbestos. The frequent use of this material in these dependencies has meant that there is currently an elevated ratio of mesothelioma even among the first workers.