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| ▲ In addition, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-young Yang speaks at a joint press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Hall on the afternoon of the 13th. | |
| Ⓒ Joint coverage photo |
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Following the controversy over the early closure of Unit 1, the voices of the Wolseong nuclear power plant are rising again in the political world. This time, the opposition parties started a battle over the safety of the entire Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Units 1-4.
On the 13th, 33 members of the National Assembly of the Democratic Party’s Environment Special Committee, Carbon Neutrality Special Committee, Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communication Committee, and the Small and Medium Venture Business Committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a press conference at the Communication Hall of the National Assembly to confirm widespread radioactive contamination at the site of the Wolseong nuclear power plant. “I announced. Recently, after receiving a report from the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) in connection with media reports that tritium, a radioactive material, was found in all sites of nuclear power plants 1 to 4 in Wolseong, it was evaluated as “the situation was worse than that reported in the media.” did.
According to this, Wolseong Unit 1, which was closed early in 2019, damaged the shielding membrane in the process of installing the containment filtration and exhaust system (CFVS) in 2012, but Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (hereinafter KHNP) only recognized this fact in August 2018. However, the information was released to the residents in May 2019, a while later. In one of the observation boats of Wolseong Unit 2, tritium (up to 28,200 Bq per liter) was detected, which is 10 to 100 times higher than other observation information. Han Suwon has not yet figured out the cause.
The most serious is Wolseong Unit 4. Unlike tritium, radioactive materials of gamma nuclides that cannot penetrate concrete were found in the spent fuel collection well here. This is why Democrats suspect that the spent fuel tank itself has been damaged. They also pointed out that, given that the spent nuclear fuel tank of Unit 4 was continuously repaired in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2019, it is impossible to know when and how long the leakage of gamma nuclides occurred.
Democratic Party “Focusing capacity on preparing countermeasures… urges the opposition party to awaken”
33 lawmakers said that the more fundamental problem was the Wolseong nuclear power plant itself. Currently, the spent fuel tanks of other nuclear power plants were all waterproofed with stainless steel plates with a thickness of 6 mm, while Wolseong nuclear power plants 1 to 4 were all coated with an epoxy liner with a thickness of only 1 mm. However, according to the results of the epoxy liner inspection over the past three years, a total of 502 deterioration (deterioration in performance) damage occurred. In addition, unlike Wolseong Units 2-4, the order walls were concrete, whereas Unit 1 was clay walls.
In the process, Han Suwon generally concealed the problem or prescribed a tinkering formula. The Nuclear Safety Committee, which is a supervisory body, also failed to play its role.
They said, “As soon as the quarantine stage is eased, we will conduct field investigations and require thorough investigations and transparent disclosure of information,” and said, “We will focus our party-level capabilities to come up with measures to ensure that residents can be relieved.” “Even though the opposition party witnesses such a serious situation (mad cow disease season 2, etc.), they misrepresent it as a ghost story, and disprove it as the intention of investigating the nuclear power plant,” he said. “The safety of the nuclear power plant is public safety.
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| ▲ In addition, Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Lee Won-young is answering the reporters’ questions after a joint press conference for the “Unplanned Radioactive Material Leak Case” held at the National Assembly Communication Hall on the afternoon of the 13th. | |
| Ⓒ Joint coverage photo |
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Rep. Woo Won-sik said, “This Wolseong nuclear power plant problem is truly shocking.” He said, “The most disturbing party is the residents near the nuclear power plant,” he said. In addition, he added, “If there is only 1% of the possibility, we should investigate and make it safe,” he added. “There should be no compromises regarding the safety of the people.”
Rep. Yang Yi Won-young also said, “You have to look at these problems comprehensively.” said. In addition, he repeatedly explained the seriousness of the case, saying, “This is an incident where the (nuclear power plant) site was contaminated, not the radiation control area, and it was not properly monitored.”
Rep. Kim Seong-hwan emphasized the need to go beyond the Wolseong nuclear power plant problem and go to a’post-nuclear society’. “The conservative press and some opposition parties still argue that nuclear power plants are a response to the climate crisis, but the world does not accept it,” he said. “If an accident occurs, it is fatally dangerous like Chernobyl or Fukushima, and it is costly economically.” “I hope the Wolseong nuclear power plant issue will serve as an important opportunity for the Republic of Korea to move toward a safer and cleaner society.”
People’s Power “In exaggeration and distortion report… the second instigation of mad cow disease”
Following the press conference of the members of the National Assembly Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communication the day before, Congressman Kim Seok-gi, a district in Gyeongju, where the Wolseong nuclear power plant is located, set the day as “the second mad cow disease incitement.” At a press conference at the National Assembly, he said, “Nuclear power experts point out that this is a typical exaggeration and distortion report.” Said.
He also argued that “securing the safety of nuclear power plants is of paramount importance, but the Democratic Party is promoting fear and spreading ghost stories to hide the illegality of the early shutdown of the Wolseong nuclear power plant. Rep. Kim said, “Will the Moon Jae-in regime try to overturn even the proven scientific facts as the sword tip of the related investigations gradually tightens to the top of the regime?” However, the people will not be fooled anymore.”