|
SEOUL, Sep 19, 2005 -- AsiaPulse
South Korea's nuclear power plants experienced 66 malfunctions, defined as "incidents," in the last four years, a government report said Monday. There are 20 nuclear plants in operation nationwide that generate roughly 40 per cent of the country's electricity. The ministry, however, said none of the malfunctions were deemed serious and rated them at "level three" on the international nuclear event scale (INES) of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The INES scale is designed to give rapid and correct information on the safety implications of incidents or accidents reported at nuclear plants. Levels one through three are termed "incidents" since they pose no serious risks, while levels four to seven are referred to as accidents. The Chernobyl reactor meltdown in 1986 was rated at the critical "level seven," while the loss of coolant at the Three Mile Island plant in 1979 was considered a "level five" accident. Of the incidents cited here, the science ministry said there were 16 in 2002, followed by a peak of 23 the following year, 14 in 2004 and 13 this year. By type of problem encountered, 60 per cent, or 40 cases, were in areas not directly related to nuclear fusion reaction, but involved cooling and electricity generation systems, such as water pipes and steam turbines. Of the total, 18 cases cited in the four-year time frame were due to human error, 16 were attributed to mechanical failure and 25 were related to electrical systems. Seven others had to do with monitoring and measurement equipment. The ministry said the percentage of incidents linked to human factors rose sharply, to 46.2 per cent in 2005 from 13 per cent in 2003 and 38.9 per cent in 2004. Some outside experts said this may be linked to a drop in the number of dedicated safety experts and technicians at the plants, which fell to around 150 at present from 250 before the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98. (Yonhap) News Provided By |
