Corrupt ties threatening nuclear safety
This is the first in a three-part series analyzing the latest issues confronting the country’s nuclear power plants. ― ED.
By Park Si-soo
The government launched an investigation into the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) Thursday over lax control in managing the operations of the country’s nuclear power stations. Two reactors in South Jeolla Province were shut down after using parts of dubious credentials, putting the nation at risk of power shortages as the mercury drops ahead of winter.
Nearly 60 government and civilian experts will take part in the probe that vows it will uncover anything and everything at the KHNP, from the system for operating reactors to how it checks its components and monitors the behavior of its employees to the relationship with suppliers.
Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) senior researcher Kwon Dong-il and Seoul National University (SNU) engineering professor Lee Joon-sik will co-head the investigative panel.
Prosecutors have already been conducting their own investigation of the KHNP and found that more than 8,000 parts, including fuses, cooling fans and switches, have been supplied to the reactors based on fake certification documents.
``Everything is subject to investigation and those found culpable of wrongdoings will definitely pay the price,’’ an NSSC official said. KHNP CEO Kim Kyun-seop has pledged full cooperation for the investigation and offered to step down after the ``mess’’ is cleaned up.
It might take an extended period to get to the bottom of the problems at the KHNP, considering the complicated supply chain between the reactor operator and suppliers. Investigators believe that the supply of fraudulently certified components wasn’t possible without the collusion of KHNP insiders.
One prosecutor who investigated a bribery scandal involving several KHNP officials earlier this year said there was an established chain of corruption and bribery between the state-run company and suppliers.
“My understanding is that the murky connections have existed for so long that eliminating the link would be impossible with just a single investigation,” he said.
Nuclear engineering professor Seo Kyun-ryul at Seoul National University echoed the view saying, “It is like a cancer that is incurable by a single medical treatment.” He said workers at nuclear facilities are more vulnerable to corruption than those in other industries because there are only a limited number of buyers and suppliers and due to the secretive nature of deals between the two parties.
Rep. Kim Jae-nam of the minor opposition Progressive Justice Party called for a parliamentary audit of the incident, saying this is a “snapshot of deep-rooted corruption in the nuclear industry.”
The latest scandal highlighting the moral hazard of officials at nuclear facilities took place in July when the prosecution caught 23 KHNP officials for taking bribes from part suppliers between 2008 and 2012. Nine lobbyists and officials of suppliers were also indicted for their involvement in the largest bribery scandal of this kind in recent years.
The combined cash given to the KHNP officials in bribes was 2.22 billion won ($2.03 million), the prosecution said. A ranking official at the Kori Nuclear Plant in charge of parts supply received 450 million won from a supplier in return for offering favorable treatment to the firm, it said. Including those embroiled in the case, a total of 33 KHNP officials have been prosecuted for bribery over the past five years, it added.
The nuclear plant (operator) came under fire again in September for its lax monitoring of employees’ behavior. An employee of the plant was apprehended for using banned drugs in his office. Though the official’s duty was unrelated to the plant’s safe operation, the incident shows the KHNP’s failure to put officials under tight scrutiny, experts said. Seo said an overhaul of the KHNP’s management system is necessary to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.