hankyoreh

staff photographer)

The power generation facilities at the Gori No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Busan are in good working order, according to safety inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA inspection was commissioned by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) and its findings, announced on June 11, are no surprise. The IAEA is widely known to support the interests of the nuclear power industry. We should not restart operations at the plant based on its assessment.

Judging from its track record, the IAEA cannot be trusted with its safety inspections. Over the years, the IAEA has conducted numerous safety examinations on reactors that had outlived their design lives. Not once has it recommended shutting one down or presented major grounds for disqualification. This time around, four of the eight team members were from the nuclear power industry, and both the time and human resources were inadequate for a thorough examination. It appears to some that the IAEA was just for show, a formality request by KHNP to get the Gori plant running again. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was given an extension based on an IAEA examination, only to later be the site of an explosion and meltdown.

According to the team‘s assessment, outdated equipment has consistently been replaced on the reactor, continued improvements have been made, and extensive measures to beef up safety were implemented in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. This is an astonishing conclusion, given the blackout last February, when one emergency generator was under renovation and another broke down. It was a major accident that had the country on edge, not least the residents of the area. Had the blackout gone on longer, the reactor core might have melted. Far from dispelling these fears, the team has only added to the sense of distrust.

The Gori No. 1 reactor has been notoriously problem-ridden ever since going on line in 1978. It has accounted for 20% of all the accidents in South Korea to date. KHNP insists that despite its timeworn exterior, the engine is in sound condition, all outdated parts having been switched out at the time of the extension. But the parts, which number in the tens of thousands, were not all replaced. There is no way of guaranteeing safety - one minor breakdown could lead to a major accident.

When conducting tests for an extension, the most important thing is the durability of the pressure vessel that surrounds the reactor. If exposed to radiation for long periods of time, it becomes fragile. The permission to operate was granted on the basis of non-destructive testing after previous destructive testing had found it unfit. It is like living with a ticking time bomb under our noses.

In addition to the Gori No. 1 reactor, the Wolseong No. 1 reactor in nearby Gyeongju will have its 30-year lifespan end later this year. Instead of bringing them back up, we should be starting the process of shutting them down.

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