ED Chronic neglect of safety

Nuclear plant fire shows operators' poor management

It is beyond deplorable when examining the causes of a fire at the Shin-Kori 4 nuclear reactor in Ulsan, Saturday. The accident demonstrated that the nuclear power plant operators' infamous ignoring of safety measures has not changed at all. At the time of the accident, the plant's generator turbine stopped running, four explosions rang out and a great deal of smoke (water vapor in actuality) was released. These showed it could not be dismissed as a minor accident but one requiring a swift and effective response.

However, the operators tried to put out the fire for about 20 minutes. After these efforts did not work, they then reported it to a fire station. That was why it took as long as an hour to put it out. What if the accident led to a fatal accident? Even more astonishing, almost all residents nearby were quite unaware of what was going on because neither the operators nor local officials notified them. If there had been a radiation leak or other grave situation, residents might have suffered irreparable damage, not even knowing the cause.

Accidents, large and small, have occurred in the nation's nuclear power plants because of operators' chronic neglect of safety measures and poor management. Another case occurred at the Hanbit 1 reactor in Yeonggwang in May 2019. While testing the reactor's controls, they showed an abnormality in thermal output. But the operators neglected the problem for nearly 12 hours. A hike in thermal power could lead to a reactor runaway, meltdown or explosion. A similar accident caused the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, in 1986.

The authorities say nuclear power is safe energy, and fears about it are groundless. However, no one can entirely rule out the possibility of unexpected accidents. The public's fear is bound to grow if accidents like the one at Shin-Kori happen more frequently. A special investigation team of experts to be dispatched by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission should find out the exact cause of the fire and work out steps to prevent a recurrence in order to quell public anxiety.