A Town of Nuclear Power Plants, Haeundae -South Korea

“Environmental groups in the Ulsan area conducted a simulation, which showed that 400,000 people would die if the wind blew toward Ulsan after an accident at Kori 1. If the numbers for Ulsan is that big, than if the wind blows toward Busan, the number of casualties will easily surpass a million.”

Posted on : 2012-12-18 15:36
Kyunghyang Shinmun.

What kind of a nuclear power plant is Kori? Kori Unit 1 is Korea’s first nuclear power plant. At the time Kori 1 was constructed, we lacked technology, so the reactor was built by welding three pieces together.

Although its 30-year lifetime expired in 2007, the Lee Myung-bak government approved its operation for another 10 years. Thus it is still in operation. So Korea continues to tinker and operate a “junk” reactor, closer to a junk car rather than a used car. Kori 1 is not only the star of the most accidents at nuclear power plants, but is also “the nuclear power plant of horror,” where a complete black out had occurred recently.

Kori Nuclear Power Plant is a town of nuclear power plants. At present, 6 reactors are in operation and 6 more units will be constructed. Twelve nuclear reactors will be huddled together.

To make matters worse, a population of 3.4 million lives within a 30-kilometer radius of Kori. Greenpeace said, “There is no place like this anywhere else in the world,” and warned that an accident at Kori would be a global catastrophe far surpassing the Fukushima accident.

Environmental groups in the Ulsan area conducted a simulation, which showed that 400,000 people would die if the wind blew toward Ulsan after an accident at Kori 1. If the numbers for Ulsan is that big, than if the wind blows toward Busan, the number of casualties will easily surpass a million.

These figures are not an exaggeration. In the past 25 years, 200,000 people have died from the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The Independent (UK) reported that the number of deaths caused by the Fukushima accident will reach 1 million.

The answer is simple. All we need to do is suspend the operation of nuclear power plants that have reached the end of their lifespan. Kori 1 is only responsible for 1% of our nation’s electricity, so there’s no need to argue about power supply.

We can operate the nuclear power plants currently in use and under construction until their life expires and during that time develop alternative energy, renewable energy to rid ourselves of nuclear power plants.

Let’s return to the articles about the Japanese people’s move to Haeundae. I thought it strange for Japanese people to move to Haeundae to escape from tsunamis and nuclear power plants, and a media in Busan corrected the facts.

The number of Japanese people moving to Busan showed an insignificant increase similar to numbers before the great earthquake and those who were buying houses in Haeundae were mostly Korean-Japanese. It turned out that articles about the Japanese exodus to Haeundae were “solicited,” representing the construction industry.

I live in Haeundae, and when I think about the nuclear power plants, I can’t sleep and I get nervous walking down the streets. If a war breaks out, at least we can make efforts to recover afterwards; but if something goes awry at a nuclear power plant, the surrounding area becomes “a land of death” which people cannot access. Although it’s mostly owned by the bank, what am I going to do about my one and only property? So lately, I had been thinking of moving. I can’t understand the people who still move to Haeundae, closer to a nuclear power plant.

But now, I may not have to move after all. One candidate in the upcoming presidential election has pledged to shut down old nuclear power plants. The other candidate has no thoughts of closing even “junk” power plants like Kori 1. My choice became clear. My decision will enhance safety and the price of my house will probably rise, too.

I wonder what kind of people keep claiming a “nuclear power country” and push for the continued operation of nuclear power plants that should have shut down long ago. Just as you need to insert a coin in the vending machine to drink Coke, do these people think we should shove the lives of the people in to get sufficient power supply?

http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?code=710100&artid=201212181536347