International inspectors find inadequate safty at Kori nuclear plant

Posted on : 2012-07-07 12:33 KST Modified on : 2012-07-07 12:33 KST
IAEA mission finds employee arrogance and lax attitudes toward safety,

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter  

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission report contends that a February blackout at the Kori No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Busan was largely attributable to the lax safety culture of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) employees and violations of operation and servicing procedure.

The revelation of the report comes amid an ongoing controversy over whether to bring the problem-prone reactor back online.

In the report, which was posted July 6 on the KHNP website, the IAEA inspectors pointed to procedural violations and inadequate safety owing to employee arrogance, as well as an authoritarian reporting system, as factors in the outage and subsequent cover-up. The inspection of the reactor was conducted between June 4 and 11 by eight experts, including team leader Miroslav Lipar.

In particular, the report said the incident was not the result of a simple mistake, but the product of “overconfidence of [the] worker due to long experience with” the generation protection test, which led to violations of procedure and safety regulations.

On June 5, the mission surveyed plants workers on questions of safety. Only 23.2% responded in the affirmative when asked whether “safety culture is regarded as the most overriding priority in performing any activity,” while just 19.5% agreed that they worked in a “business environment that placed importance on . . . safety.”

Other factors mentioned by the mission included concerns about the public image of nuclear power plant safety, the need to maintain an incident-free image, and an organizational culture that discouraged objections to orders and authority.

Seoul National University nuclear engineering professor Suh Kune-yull said, “The blackout and cover-up at Kori No. 1 was the product of several issues coming together.”

Suh added, “I think the IAEA hit on overall problems of management at South Korea’s nuclear power plants, including Kori No. 1.”

On July 4, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission granted permission to put the Kori plant back on line. Residents and civic groups protested the decision, arguing that Kori has an extensive history of breakdowns and safety issues and can’t be considered secure.

 

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