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A reactor at one of South Korea's largest nuclear plants shut down Wednesday, officials said, at a time of creeping public anxiety over safety in the country's nuclear industry.
The reactor, one of six at the Yeonggwang complex in the southwest of the country, shut down at 2:44 p.m., a spokesman for the Korea Hydro and Power Co told AFP.
"The cause of the stoppage is as yet unknown and investigations are underway. We don't know when it will resume operations," the spokesman said.
He stressed there was no sign of any radiation leak.
South Korea has 23 reactors which are meant to meet more than 30% of electricity needs. But the sector is currently undergoing a crisis of confidence following a series of shutdowns and a scandal involving parts provided with fake safety certificates
Wednesday's incident brings to seven the total number of reactors currently offline.
State prosecutors have launched an extensive probe into the safety certificate fraud, which forced the shutdown of two reactors in May and delayed the scheduled start of operations at two more.
Last year, officials said eight suppliers were found to have faked warranties covering thousands of items used in a number of reactors.
The scandal further undermined public confidence already shaken by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and its ongoing repercussions.
Despite the concern, the government has vowed to push ahead with its nuclear power program and plans to build an additional 16 reactors by 2030.
© (C) 2013 AFP
9 Comments
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smithinjapan
SamuraiBlue: "You two are bashing the wrong nation."
I guess you failed again to read the actual post. I blame SK for this, and SK alone. The only reference I made to Japan, since the first two posts were simply bashing SK from a Japanese perspective, is that the criminals will be prosecuted, whereas in Japan they will not. Wait! I did also mention the Fukushima accident has sparked international criticism of nuclear energy, but if you call that 'bashing'... well...
SamuraiBlue
Smithy & Chucky
You two are bashing the wrong nation. If you have anything to say say it to ROK not Japan since Japan has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with the wide spread electricity shortage and the rolling black out SK is going to initiate. Nothing to do with the elderly and the weak that is going to suffer while they turn off their AC. Nothing to do with the possible death due to black outs that may occur on the operation table. Nothing to do with the lack of secondary power source that companies failed to install. Nothing to do with anything.
chucky3176
It's not as if they leaked any radiation, unlike Japan where 300 tons of radioactive water are dumped into the sea, yet no-one is questioning these actions. This probe is a precautionary exercise, after the corruption at Fukushima where everything is slept under the carpet and all the people responsible for the fiasco pretending nothing is wrong. Koreans found a problem, they're trying to fix it before they turn into Japan type crisis. At least they're facing the problem instead of hiding problems like Japan and China does all the time.
smithinjapan
It's amazing to watch people come onto this thread and bash South Korean/Japan relations when there really is NOTHING related about it -- save that nuclear energy and the people who push it are proving to be very unreliable and unsafe.
If you REALLY want to get into it, the only think SK could blame Japan for in this situation is the lack of confidence Fukushima has sparked in terms of nuclear energy as a whole, but SK has no one to blame but itself on this -- they are SK built reactors, and the builders that cut corners are South Koreans. At least, as wanderlust mentioned, these guys will be held accountable and punished severely, unlike in Japan.
kurisupisu
It seems that the most poisonous substances known to humankind are in the hands of fools and crooks-if anyone should need a reason to be against nuclear power it surely is this!
wanderlust
A big difference with South Korea is that the past and present management are being held accountable, 22 arrests have been made and punishments will follow. Totally different to the Japanese "sweep it under the table and apologise if you're caught" philosophy...
SuperLib
Generally not a good idea.
tokyobakayaro
You should say "the East Sea", we all know how sensitive they are.
Just wondering how long it will take them to blame Japan for this.
SauloJpn
I wonder about the double standards that we would see if they leaked any radiation into the the Japanese Sea.