DATE=10/5/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SOKOR NUKE SPILL (L-O)
NUMBER=2-254678
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A leak at a nuclear plant in South Korea has
exposed 22-people to radiation. The plant's owners
say the radiation was contained in the building. As
Hyun-Sung Khang reports from the South Korean capital,
Seoul, the government is investigating the incident.
TEXT: The accident occurred when radioactive water
leaked during maintenance of the power plant's water-
cooling pump. Twenty-two men received a dose of
radiation of 440-millirem, which is nine-percent of
the legally permitted exposure.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said none of
the men were hospitalized.
A spokesman for the Korea Electric Power Corporation,
which runs the reactor, said the leak was small and
not harmful. He added that the radiation did not
leave the building in Wolsung -- in the southwest of
the country.
The company is conducting an investigation into the
cause of the accident. The government is also sending
independent assessors to investigate.
The state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation runs
14-nuclear reactors in Korea, which supply about 40-
percent of the country's electricity. South Korea
lacks natural power resources and the country's
government, like that of Japan, favors nuclear power
due to its low production costs. It plans to build
another 16-reactors, by the year 2015.
But environmental groups have demanded the government
halt its nuclear plant-building program, raising
concerns over safety. A spokesman for Green Korea
United, a local environmental group, said a major
radiation leak similar to that which took place in
Japan last Thursday, was likely to be repeated in
South Korea.
That incident was Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident,
during which 55-people, mainly plant workers and
emergency personnel were exposed to radiation. Three
remain in serious condition.
South Korean government officials said afterwards that
they did not anticipate a similar accident happening
in Korea, and they planned to pursue an ambitious
nuclear-power program. (SIGNED)
NEB/HSK/RAE
05-Oct-1999 14:28 PM EDT (05-Oct-1999 1828 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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