Moving toward disaster

It’s urgent to overhaul operation of nuclear plants

Since Fukushima, governments have worried about unpredictable events, such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks, crippling their nuclear power plants. But Seoul has a far more

urgent

- and deplorable - problem: ethical laxity among power plant operators.

Korea had to shut down two reactors last year when regulators found thousands of substandard parts in them and discovered they had been supplied with fake warranties for more than a decade.

The current problem, occurring less than a year later, is even more

alarming

and the nature of the offense, more serious. Substandard control cables, the parts in question this time, are used to send electronic signals to a reactor’s control system in the event of an accident. This means any problem concerning such parts could cause uncontrollable problems in reactors.

Even more lamentably, it wasn’t commercial suppliers but a state-certified inspection agency that

fabricate

d documents guaranteeing that the control cables were safety approved.

We are flabbergasted with the absolute absence of checks-and-balances and the opacity surrounding the management of atomic power plants. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, which made public the latest scandal, has yet to even disclose the name of the inspection agency, let alone who did it and why. It is horrifying to think what would have happened had the unidentified whistleblower not come forward.

President Park Geun-hye was right to call for a thorough probe into the causes of the accident and hold officials involved accountable, but she must go further.

A total of 13,794 parts in 561 items have been supplied with fake warrants and test records in the past 10 years. The ongoing trouble will likely take six months to resolve and incur an aggregate loss of up to 2 trillion won. The head of the operator, Korea Hydraulic and Nuclear Power, who has retained his job despite last year’s turmoil, vows to shorten the reparation period to four months. He’d better not be in haste nor try to tackle these recurrent problems under his supervision. All this shows that the nation’s nuclear power industry cannot continue with hasty,

makeshift

patches whenever problems arise.

President Park must ensure that there is an overhaul of the nuclear power industry, starting from the design process, to construction, operation and supervision, by activating a high-powered commission under her direct control. She should clearly separate the industry’s promoters and regulators on such a panel, and fill at least half of it with experts from the private sector. Their foremost task ought to be the breakup of the “nuclear mafia,” the cozy bunch of bureaucrats, utility industry chiefs and some politicized academics.

The government is turning off two more reactors and delaying the scheduled start of another two, pushing the number of idle nuclear plants for corruption scandals and mechanical failures to 10 out of a total 23. The operational suspension of nearly half of the nation’s atomic power plants will mean a longer and hotter summer this year for Koreans. But they should not press the government for a quick solution until officials check each and every product part, and come up with fundamental, if time-consuming, remedies.

The Japanese people spent last summer without operating nuclear power plants. There are no reasons why Koreans cannot do the same.

This is The Korea Times editorial for Thursday, May 30, 2013.

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 사설에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제 입니다.

※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.

1. The government agreed to

overhaul

the country's economy in which Korea's long-neglected banking crisis finally lead to an IMF bailout.

① develop gradually

② inflate

③ examine thoroughly

④ boost rapidly

2. The survey

highlighted

the urgent need for checking the high rate of inflation.

① accentuated

② imitated

③ overlooked

④ restored

3. ____________ the alarming report of earth tremors nearby, the workers proceeded to lay the foundation of the building. (사법시험)

① On

② About

③ Despite

④ Beside

4. Pinocchio

fabricated

the story to make it seem as though he was honest and upright when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

① concocted

② favored

③ developed

④ climaxed

5. Dozens of

cafés and food stalls create a carnival atmosphere.

① changing

② new

③ temporary

④ classical

[해설 및 정답]

1. [번역] 정부는 한국에서 오랫동안 무시되어온 금융위기가 마침내 IMF 긴급 구제를 받게 되는 결과를 가져 온 국가 경제를

철저히 조사하기로

동의했다.

[정답] ③

2. [번역] 그 조사는 고율의 인플레이션을 억제하는 절박한 필요성을

강조한 것이었다

.

[정답] ①

3. [해설] 문맥으로 보아 despite ‘~에도 불구하고’ 이다.

[번역] 부근에서 발생한 땅 진동에 대한 놀라운 보도에도 불구하고, 근로자들은 그 건물의 기초 공사를 계속 진행했다.

4. [번역] 피노키오는, 사실, 결코 진실(사실)이 아닌데도 자신이 정직하고 고결한 것처럼 보이게 하기 위해 이야기를

날조했다

[어휘] concoct 섞어서 만들다(prepare by combining); (각본, 음모 등을)엮어내다, 날조하다(invent, fake, fabricate); 고안하다(devise, contrive)

② 호의를 나타내다, 편들다 ④ 절정에 도달시키다(이르다)

5. [번역]

임시로 설치한

수 십 개의 카페와 음식판매대는 카니발 축제의 분위기를 조성하고 있다.

[어휘] makeshift 임시방편의(= temporary, provisional)