SEOUL--The city assembly of Busan unanimously adopted a recommendation on March 22 calling for the "immediate closure" of the No. 1 reactor at the Kori nuclear power plant located in the city.
SEOUL--The city assembly of Busan unanimously adopted a recommendation on March 22 calling for the "immediate closure" of the No. 1 reactor at the Kori nuclear power plant located in the city.
The move comes after all power was lost for 12 minutes on Feb. 9 at the No. 1 reactor. But the government's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission was not notified of the incident until March 12.
"It was nothing less than a very grave accident that could have involved a core meltdown," the Busan Metropolitan Council's recommendation read. "(The plant operator) systematically covered up the accident, arousing enormous distrust and anxiety among the citizens of Busan."
It also said safety is not guaranteed at the Kori No. 1 reactor, the oldest commercial nuclear reactor in South Korea, which experienced emergency shutdowns on more than 100 occasions between 1978 and 2011.
The city assembly sent the recommendation to the office of the president and other government organizations.