Welcome to BASE21

Witer: Yang Hee-jin, editor-in-chief
Source: The Konkuk Bulletin
Date: Nov. 1999

Ⅰ. Introduction
Recently, the nation was embroiled in the vortex of Wolsong's nuclear accident. It was a shocking accident which caused 22 people to be exposed to radiation. Everyone knows that radiation is a dangerous material which can even kill people. Despite the seriousness of the accident, the government told the public that the amount of the emitted radiation wasn't fatal. Also, the government tried to cover up the accident by delaying its report. However, the most serious problem is that the nuclear accident happened due to the government's and Korea Electric Power Corporation's negligence.
In this regard, the policy of the government that manage the nuclear power plants seem to be wrong. At the same time, questions on the problems of the nuclear industry in Korea are raised.

Ⅱ. The Wolsong nuclear accident
On October 6, 22 people were accidently exposed to the radiation active water inside a Wolsong nuclear power plant. All of them were workers of the state-run KEPCO(Korea Electric Power Corporation) which manages the nuclear power plants of the nation.
In Korea, there have been many reactor accidents, but this is the first time people were exposed to radiation. So the problem is serious. Then, how did the accident in Wolsong nuclear power plant happen? While the workers were repairing the pump valve of the power plant, about 45 liters of heavy water leaked from a steam generator. The heavy water reactor is capable of producing significantly more plutonium than a light water reactor. Plutonium can have harmful effects on people if it is absorbed into their bodies.
Nevertheless, when the accident happened, its announcement was delayed by the government. It is because the government regarded it as the fault of the careless workers. A government officer stated "As the amount of leaked radiation is very small, people don't have to worry about the accident." However, the nuclear accident in Wolsong still makes the people fear the nuclear power plants.
Wolsong nuclear power plant was constructed some 30Km from Kyungju city, north Kyungsang Province in 1983. The plant is Canadian-designed, and uses heavy water to generate electricity. So, it is called a CANDO-style power plant. However, the problem is that 'CANDO' nuclear power plants are not equipped with enough safety devices. Thus, many accidents have happened in Wolsong Units 1 and 2 including this accident in Unit 3.
Although environmentalists questioned the safety of the Canadian-designed nuclear power plants, the government didn't stop its construction plan. The government constructed nuclear power plants rapidly, saying that the construction of Wolsong nuclear power plant can solve the shortage of electric power. However, there were no governmental efforts to prevent radioactive contamination. As a result, nuclear accidents in Korea are frequent.
Everytime nuclear accidents happened in Korea, the government argued that it was due to carelessness. The foremost concern, however, is not how the accident occur but how frequently they occur. There should be extensive prevative measure to prevent the accidents from occurring in the first place. In spite of the fact, there have been 5 accidents ever since nuclear power plants have been constructed.
In that sense, the issue of safety of the nuclear power plant is raised.

Ⅲ. Problems of the nuclear industry in Korea
(1)Are the nuclear power plants in Korea safe?
The question of safety of the nuclear power plants was raised long before the Wolsong nuclear accident took place. Before the Wolsong accident, there was a nuclear mishap at the Tokaimura Uranium Processing Plant in Japan. It was one of the worst nuclear disasters, yet and it received a lot of publicity.
When Japan's nuclear accident happened, many Korean environmentalists questioned the nuclear power plants. Addressing this concern, KEPCO stated, "Our nation's nuclear power plants are being operated very safely." However, after only a few days, a similar accident as Japan's took place in Korea.
A government officer said that the accident occurred due to the mistake of the workers. However, many environmentalists have a suspicion that there are a lot of structural defects in the reactors.
The Ministry of Science and Technology investigated Youngkwang Nuclear Power Plant in September, 1998, and found minute pin-holes in a nuclear fuel rod. Also, a broken guide tube in the control rod that controls the fission rate of the nuclear fuel was discovered. In addition to the Youngkwang Power Plant, many nuclear power plants in Korea suffer from similar structural defects.
Nonetheless, the Kim Dae-jung government has decided to abolish 50 percent of the policy regulating nuclear power plants last year. The abolishment plan was part of the nation's policy to mitigate administrative regulations. Since the abolishment policy also included the safety regulations of nuclear power plants, the safety checks started to disappear.
Therefore, to prevent nuclear accidents like the Wolsong accident, the government should check up on the nuclear's safety regularly.

(2)The government's energy supply policy
As the 'CANDO' Wolsong construction was a part of Park Chung-hee government's policy to develop nuclear weapons, desire of the government to construct nuclear power plants rapidly resulted in many problems.
First of all, due to the government's rapid construction of nuclear power plants in the late 1970s, supply surpassed demand, bringing about nine reduction in electricity taxes. In order to solve the problem, the government conducted several campaigns to encourage electricity consumption. However, the government's energy supply campaign resulted in the negative effect which makes people consume electricity unsparingly. In the end, due to those energy campaigns of the past government, short-term energy-saving policies of the present government seem to be ineffective.
Secondly, the government announced a long-term electricity supply plan last year. The plan is to construct 18 new nuclear power plants by 2015. Some environmentalists criticized the government, highlighting that the government goes against the stream of global trend disbanding nuclear power plants.
In fact, many countries are abandoning plans to build nuclear power plants because of the many accidents caused by structural defects. For example, Sweden which produces more than 50 percent of their energy with nuclear energy decided to disband all nuclear power plants until the year 2010. The United States stopped the construction plan of the nuclear power plant since the nuclear accident in 1973. Therefore, our government should think whether its construction is a good idea.
The government's energy supply policy also means high dependency on nuclear energy. In Korea, there are 14 nuclear power plants. Koreans depend approximately 35 percent of the energy on them. When considering potential shortages of the energy, the nation cannot help depending on nuclear power. Therefore, in view of our current situation, it is going to be difficult to decrease our dependency on nuclear energy. However, to solve our current dependency problem we have to come up with alternative energy source.

(3)Briefing of each nuclear power plants problem
There are 14 nuclear power plants in South Korea. They resulted in many nuclear accidents due to structural defects or safety negligence. The briefing of the accidents are as follows.
First, the nuclear power plant at Youngkwang caused an accident and operation was suspended several times due to damaged fuel rods and the broken guide tube of a control rod. Second, Kori Nuclear Power Plant had an accident in which two steam generators were replaced because they were heavily cracked.
Third, the accident at Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant is controversial. Since the early 1980s, many geologists have argued that there were ten big earthquakes during the last 2000 years in Kyungju. As Kyungju is the nearest city from the Wolsong power plant, those earthquakes can affect the Wolsong power plant. KEPCO granted an investigation contract to the Korea Institute of Geology, Mining & Materials(KIGAM) in 1995. On ending its investigation in June 1998, KIGAM reported that there was no evidence which proved that the earthquakes affected the Wolsong Power Plant. However, many geologists didn't trust KIGAM's investigation, insisting that it was insufficient.
Lastly, the accident at Uljin Nuclear Power Plant is pointed. There are units 1,2,3,4 in Uljin Power Plant, and unit 5,6 is under construction. KEPCO found numerous cracks on all the steam generators in Unit 1 and 2, which have been operating since 1998 and 1989 respectively. Due to the cracks, cooling water was leaking from a steam generator at a rate of 11.5 l/hr. Environmentalists demanded a temporary cessation of operation to deal with the leaks. But, the government decided to reduce the operating rate from 100% to 75%, by November last year.

(4)Selection problem of a nuclear power plant site
The government proposed eleven new sites for nuclear power plants in the early 1980's. On December 10, 1998, five hundred residents of Uljin City held an assembly in front of the Uljin City Office, demanding the cancellation of Sanpo Nuclear Power Plant construction plan. In this assembly, held under the sponsorship of Uljin Joint Opposition Committee, residents of Sanpo, Uljin, and local citizen groups jointly demonstrated their opposition. Uljin has prior experience in the resistance of their appointment as a nuclear waste site in 1991 and 1994.
Uljin's selection is strongly supported by the government for the reason that, unlike other proposed sites, three power plant units are already in operation there. Of particular concern is Sanpo, Keunnam District, Uljin City, a resort area which has many tourist attractions, such as Seongryu Cave, Pulryong Valley, Wangpi Stream etc..
To the residents who have subsisted on these tourist resources, the construction of a new nuclear power plant above the old one would present a serious crisis. A sea farmer who fishes near Uljin Nuclear Power Plant won a suit against KEPCO in Dec. 1998. The Taegu District court judged that KEPCO was responsible for shoal death in the seafarm in 1994 because they discharged heated-waste water to the sea from the nuclear power plant. It was the first time a resident won a suit against KEPCO.

Ⅳ. The government and Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) which are responsible for the nuclear accident
Since KEPCO is the state-run organization which manages all of the nation's nuclear power plants, it has a duty to prevent domestic accidents. So, it is responsible for accidents like the heavy water leakage at Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant.
KEPCO, founded by Park Chung-hee's government was originally composed of 3 electric companies. It has grown to a monopolistic corporation with the inflow of foreign capital and domestic financial benefits. However, KEPCO was faced with a financial crisis in May, 1998. That was because the government spent 8 hundred million dollars in order to import core parts from foreign countries. As a result, debt to the foreign countries was increased more and more.
After the financial crisis, Chang Young-sik who was skeptical about the nuclear power plant's construction was appointed as the president of KEPCO. In spite of the appointment of the new president, the government didn't change its policy to construct more nuclear power plants. The government still showed much interest in the nuclear power plant industry.
KEPCO produces about 600 tons of uranium fuel annually through 14 nuclear power plants which are in operation across the whole country. 600 tons of uranium fuel is needed to supply energy to the Korean people. The large amount also means that radioactive contamination can occur. Nevertheless, the operations of nuclear power plants in Korea were suspended several times because of minor accidents such as heavy water leakage and small fires.
Needless to say, KEPCO should try to prevent the dreadful accidents. One of those efforts is to find out the exact cause of the latest Wolsong accident. Kim Sang-wang who is a chairman of an anti-nuclear association in Kyungju city said, "Whenever there was a nuclear accident, the government announced that it was minor accident." However, he doesn't believe the government's report any more.

Ⅴ. Conclusion
The government ought to take the Wolsong accident as a stern warning that nuclear accidents can occur in Korea. Furthermore, the problem of heavy water leakage occurring due to safety negligence should never be tolerated.
Recently, people were shocked at the news that 3 graduate students had lost their lives due to the explosion accident that happened in the laboratory of a Nuclear Engineering Department. The accident was proven to be caused by safety negligence. Therefore, the government should check the safe operation of the nuclear power plant without delay. At the same time, it must always think about the negative consequences when constructing new nuclear power plants.