SEOUL: South Korea has been forced to shut down two nuclear reactors to
replace components provided with fake quality certificates, a minister said on
Monday, warning of "unprecedented" power shortages.
Knowledge Economy Minister Hong
Suk-Woo stressed that the "non-core" components posed no safety
threat and were unrelated to a string of systems malfunctions at reactors this
year that triggered calls for a safety review.
The two affected reactors at the
Yeonggwang nuclear complex in the southwest may have to remain offline until
early January, as engineers replace more than 5,000 fuses, cooling fans and
other parts provided by eight suppliers.
"Comprehensive safety
check-ups are necessary at these two reactors where the uncertified parts were
used extensively," Hong said.
"It's inevitable that we
will experience unprecedented power shortage during the coming winter with the
two reactors shut," he added.
South Korea operates 23 nuclear
power reactors which meet more than 35 per cent of the country's electricity
needs. It plans to build an additional 16 reactors by 2030.
Last month, authorities
temporarily shut down two 1,000-megawatt reactors at separate nuclear plants
after system malfunctions which were also blamed for another reactor at
Yeonggwang being tripped into automatic shutdown in July.
The South Korean government has
vowed to stick to its nuclear power programme despite public concerns arising from
last year's nuclear disaster in Japan.
If the two Yeonggwang reactors
are not brought back online as scheduled, Hong warned of a "dramatic"
drop in national power reserves to 300,000 kilowatts in January, compared to
the government target of 4.5 million kilowatts.
"Energy authorities are
preparing a super-intense power supply emergency plan, which will be carried
out in mid-November," he said, without elaborating.
All parts supplied for use in
South Korea's nuclear plants require quality and safety warranties from one of
12 international organisations designated by Seoul.
The eight suppliers cited by Hong
faked 60 warranties covering nearly 7,700 items that had been provided at a
cost of 820 million won (US$750,000), Hong said.
Of the total, more than 5,200
parts have been used in five reactors -- 99 per cent of them in the two
Yeonggwang units closed on Monday.
Hong said prosecutors would
investigate the suppliers as well as possible collusion by officials of the
state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power.
Doubts over nuclear safety
standards were fuelled in May when five senior engineers were charged with
trying to cover up a potentially dangerous power failure at South Korea's
oldest nuclear plant.
The five, including a 55-year-old
chief engineer at the Gori-1 reactor, were accused of violating a law on
nuclear safety.
The reactor, built in 1978 near
the southern city of Busan, briefly lost mains power on February 9 and the
emergency generator failed to kick in. The power cut caused cooling water to
stop circulating.
- AFP/xq
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. Since we are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, you may contact us at: sbc.pte@gmail.com, provisionally. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment