2 S. Korea nuclear reactors malfunction
SEOUL, Oct 2, 2012 -- UPI
Two nuclear reactors were shut down in South Korea Tuesday
after unrelated technical malfunctions, the plants' operators
said.
Neither reactor is in danger of releasing radiation,
officials at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Yonhap News Agency
reported. The first reactor, the Shingori 1 in Busan, South
Korea, 280 miles south of Seoul, was shut down after it detected
a problem with the control rod that governs the rate of fission
inside the reactor.
The second reactor was shut down about two hours later at
Younggwang Nuclear Power Plant in South Jeolla Province, about
220 miles south of Seoul. The No. 5 reactor there was halted due
to low water levels.
The news comes as public fears over nuclear accidents remain
high in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan in March
2011, when an earthquake and tsunami decimated the nuclear power
plant, causing large amounts of radiation to leak, Yonhap
reported.
South Korea has 23 nuclear reactors online, producing about
30 percent of the nation's electricity, Yonhap reported.
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