Gov`t OKs restart of operations at Yeonggwang nuke reactor

Gov`t OKs restart of operations at Yeonggwang nuke reactor. January. 01, 2013 04:53. tmt1984@donga.com.

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission on Monday approved the resumption of operations at Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant No. 5, which was suspended due to the use of substandard parts supplied via fabricated quality certificates.

Power authorities plan to get the plant running again as soon as possible to help the country avoid power shortages this winter.

The commission said, “We have approved the resumption of operations at the Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant No. 5, at which all parts with fabricated quality certificates have been replaced. The performance and safety of related facilities have been comprehensively verified.”

The commission will determine the safety of the Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant No. 6 after examining a report on nuclear plant parts filed by a private-public joint inspection team.

Concluding that parts with fake documents were supplied due to sloppy management at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., the commission must also prevent a recurrence of the fiasco. For one, suppliers that submit fabricated documents will face revocation of their license to supply parts and will be banned from supplying parts for up to 10 years.

The commission will also require the hydro and nuclear company to set up a system designed to inspect all purchasing activities on its own, by entrusting quality validation and inspection work to a professional purchasing team within the company`s headquarters.

The company must also operate an in-house system for crackdown and voluntary reporting of corruption, and set up a nuclear reactor safety compliant reporting system within the commission to step up oversight.

A "consultative meeting on nuclear safety" aimed at seamless communication with residents around the nuclear complex will also be operated on a regular basis.

Eom Jae-shik, director of the nuclear safety policy division at the commission, said, “The commission will require related organizations, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., to submit implementation plans to prevent a recurrence of problems and regularly inspect situations,” adding “If additional problems are detected in the course of future inspections, we will constantly devise measures to correct problems.”