When it was revealed that a large amount of tritium was detected on the site of the Wolseong nuclear power plant, the power of the people and the Korean Hydro & Nuclear Power came out to criticize the suspicion itself as “fake news” and “misreporting”.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party, which ordered a full investigation to the government, said it would conduct an investigation at the level of the National Assembly.
Power of the People All the members of the National Assembly’s Science Information Technology Broadcasting and Communication Committee (Secretary Park Sung-jung, Park Dae-chul, Jeong Hee-yong, Joo Ho-young, Hwang Bo Seung-hee, Huh Eun-ah) held a press conference at Jeongron Hall on the morning of the 12. He dismissed it as “mad cow disease season 2”. They said they expressed serious concern, saying that MBC and the Democratic Party are spreading fake news. Members of the Power of the People’s Office said, “We are misleading the people by making some claims that are not scientific facts.” It was also said that the Democratic Party, environmental groups, and progressive media are creating nuclear phobias.
The members of the People’s Power Division raised their voices saying that they would inform the truth about the fake news. They raised the possibility of leakage of spent nuclear fuel storage tank due to epoxy damage inside Wolseong Unit 1. “If so, not only tritium but also gamma nuclides such as cobalt should be detected. I can’t.” Despite claiming that it exceeded the standard value of 18 times, they said, “The debris inside the facility and the purified discharged water are not subject to comparison in the first place.” It was treated according to the liquid waste treatment standards.” It is the level of reading the argument made by Suwon Han. They did not mention the discovery of an enormous amount of 713,000 becquerels of tritium per liter. In addition, there was no question or explanation about how or why such tritium was discovered.
In response to the criticism of a spokesman for the Democratic Party with Shin Young-dae that’the power of the people ignored the safety of the people and insisted that the operation of the old nuclear power plant resume,’ the members of the People’s Power Division said, “Insults against the Uri Party,” saying, “Since the repairs have been completed, it has been able to operate more than enough.” However, the contents of the judgment of the Seoul Administrative Court that it was illegal was omitted because all the 700 billion won maintenance process of Wolseong Unit 1 was illegal, and the life extension was decided by the illegal nuclear safety committee.
Members of the Power of the People’s Forces Committee pointed to Lee Nak-yeon, who criticized the detection of tritium as’shocking’ and’nuclear mafia’, arguing that “I doubt whether the intention is to undermine the investigation of the nuclear power plant by misleading the facts.”
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power also refuted reports on internal documents related to the discovery of tritium by Pohang MBC and MBC posted on the website late in the afternoon of the 11th. Regarding the report on the 7th of Pohang MBC, saying,’Radioactive materials are completely enclosed and sequestered due to the structure of nuclear power plants, and should not be detected except for designated facilities.’ KHNP said, “Incorrect reports,” and “Tritium is the smallest unit element in nature. In addition, a certain level of tritium (less than 40,000 becquerels Bq/liter L) is legally permitted in the water drained to the drainage channel.” It is argued that there is no management standard for the’underground drainage pipe under the turbine building’ in which 713,000 becquerels/liter were detected. Still, it was not possible to clearly explain why KHNP was discovered. KHNP argued that “the cause of the detection of tritium is under investigation, and the gamma nuclide, which is the criterion for determining whether or not leakage, is not detected. Therefore, it is judged that there is no abnormality in the integrity of the structure of the spent fuel storage tank (epoxy liner, concrete).”
However, regarding the gamma nuclides detected in Wolseong Unit 4, KHNP said, “The cause of trace detection of gamma nuclides (3~10Bq/L) in a collection tank near the spent fuel storage tank of Wolseong Unit 4 was the spent fuel storage tank in May-June 2019. It is estimated to be the remaining amount before the renovation work,” and he speculated that “gamma nuclides were not detected in the inflow water of the collection tank after the repair in June of that year.” In a response letter sent to Media Today the day before, Han Su-won estimated that’air’ was the cause, saying, “A trace amount of tritium in the air has been transferred to dead objects over a long period of time” as a result of its own experiment.
In addition, the Democratic Party urged a full investigation, saying that the cause should be thoroughly identified. Kim Tae-nyeon, the head of the Democratic Party, said at the in-hospital countermeasure meeting that’there was no leakage to the outside and the concentration of tritium was insignificant that there was no need to worry about residents’ health.’ It is a radioactive substance,” he criticized, saying, “It cannot be taken lightly that tritium was detected in groundwater, etc., which are irrelevant to the tritium discharge route.”
In particular, Won-nae Kim said, “We have not been able to find the cause of the leakage of tritium outside the specified discharge route.” He said, “In consideration of the potential danger of tritium, KHNP should thoroughly identify the cause of the leakage.” In fact, as local residents are also demanding countermeasures, saying that tritium has been continuously leaking, Park Nae Kim said, “Safety is a top priority and absolute requirement in the operation of a nuclear power plant.” “The government is concerned with the scale and cause of radioactive contamination of the aging Wolseong nuclear power plant. We ordered a full investigation into whether there is a lack of management.” He said, “In addition, I would like to say that I will closely examine the necessity of investigation at the level of the National Assembly.”
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