By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Korea has agreed to set up a nuclear energy hotline with agencies from Japan and China, a report said Monday.
The move is designed to quickly inform neighboring countries and implement appropriate responses in case of nuclear power plant accidents.
The three countries have agreed to set up a direct communication channel that can be used to inform others in case of nuclear accidents, Japan's Mainichi Shimbun reported.
There are currently 86 nuclear power plants in operation in Korea, Japan and China, and that number is likely to increase in the coming years.
Senior officials from the three countries are expected to meet in Tokyo Friday to sign the agreement, according to the report.
It noted that there was a need to set up a hotline linking the three countries to deal with potential nuclear safety issues, saying that a major nuclear accident in any one of the countries could have environmental consequences in neighboring regions as well.
The agreement will be called ``The Northeast Asian Nuclear Safety Forum.'' The agencies that will serve as main points of contact on this hotline will be Korea's Institute of Nuclear Safety, the Japanese Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, and China's National Nuclear Safety Administration.
Under the agreement, in the case of an accident, the relevant nuclear agency would be required to inform its overseas counterparts within a few hours.
The agreement also calls for cooperation between nuclear agencies and the fostering of the exchange of information on managing nuclear facilities and understanding regional safety law.
Korea currently has 20 nuclear power plants in operation, while Japan has 55 nuclear and China, 11. Last month, Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Yoon-ho stated that Korea is planning to build 10 more nuclear power plants by 2030 in a bid to raise the country's alternative energy production. Overall, some 38 additional nuclear power plants are currently in construction or are in the planning stages in the three countries.