Screwdriver blamed for nuclear plant shutdown



by Staff Writers



Seoul (AFP) Feb 17, 2011



Operators of a South Korean nuclear power plant said Thursday that a stray screwdriver was most likely to blame after a reactor had to be shut down for three days.

The reactor in Yeonggwang, about 260 kilometres (160 miles) south of Seoul, stopped working on February 4. It was restarted after engineers carried out repairs to the cooling pump, a company spokesman told AFP.

"A 30-centimetre-long screwdriver was found in the cooling pump's motor, and we believe this might have caused the trouble," he said.

"We have no information as to when the screwdriver was put into the motor," he said, adding the pump was last overhauled by German engineers in 2002.

An unnamed expert, cited by Yonhap, described the incident as "outrageous" and said it would raise public concerns about the safety of nuclear plants.

South Korea operates 20 reactors, which generate more than 30 percent of its electricity needs, and is eager to export its expertise as a new growth engine for the economy.

It plans to build 12 new nuclear reactors in the next 14 years.

In December 2009 a South Korean-led consortium won a $20.4 billion contract to build four nuclear plants in the United Arab Emirates.