S. Korea nuclear accident

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There's been another nuclear accident. South Korea is reporting 22 exposed and that the accident is over.

-- Anonymous, October 05, 1999

Answers

From CNN:

South Korea says nuclear plant leak contained October 5, 1999 Web posted at: 11:00 p.m. HKT (1500 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A leak of radioactive water at a South Korean nuclear power plant was quickly contained and none of the 22 workers exposed was seriously hurt, South Korean officials said Tuesday.

The accident occurred at 7 p.m. Monday during maintenance work on a water cooling pump at Wolsung nuclear power reactor No. 3 in northern Kyongsang Province, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement.

"It did not leak outside of the building. It did not affect the environment," the ministry said in the statement.

GALLERY A timeline of some of the world's nuclear accidents ALSO Finnish Loviisa nuclear plant has hydrogen leak RESOURCES TIME: What did we learn from Chernobyl? TIME: Fallout: Toxic radiation infiltrates a corner of India The workers exposed to radiation were checked and then sent home, authorities said.

A spokesman for the power plant said that about 45 liters (11.7 gallons) of radioactive water leaked. The level of radiation was 440 millirem, about 9 percent of the legally allowed radiation exposure, according to the spokesman.

The officials could not say why it took so long to release the news.

An investigation was under way of the incident. It was the first reported leak of radioactive material at a power plant in South Korea. The first nuclear plant was built in 1978.

South Korea has 14 nuclear power plants, which provide about 40 percent of electricity used in the nation of 44 million.

On Thursday, at least 49 people were exposed to radiation following an accident at a uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan, that occurred when two workers skipped key security steps while mixing nuclear fuel.

The nuclear reaction that followed heightened fears about the safety of Japanese power plants. Blame for the accident has focused on slipshod practices by the plant's operator.

-- Anonymous, October 05, 1999


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