S Korea shuts nuclear reactors, warns of power shortages

They claim to be a high tech modern country yet they can't even keep the lights on.

I wonder if this will be in the brochure when Korea Power touts it's "advanced" technology overseas.

Why weren't the suppliers names published? Only two places to go for that stuff, Japan or China. From the looks of it, probably Chinese products since most fans are made in china nowadays, as well as fuses. They should have just had Samsung make them everything, they surely can (very vertical company that is also in a lot of fields)

I am sure them South Koreans will pull through!

At least the government is supposedly doing something about this disgrace before it is too late. These energy corporations don't give a rats about children's health. Their cousins in Japan on the other hand just allowed electrical companies like TEPCO to cover-up multiple scandals in decades gone by (no doubt after plenty of palms were greased with yen) and these stories never broke until the aftermath of the human-created disaster in Fukushima.

According to Wiki;

South Korea is seeking to export its nuclear technology, with a goal of exporting 80 nuclear reactors by 2030. As of 2010, South Korean companies have reached agreements to build a research reactor in Jordan, and four APR-1400 reactors in the United Arab Emirates.

Pretty scary if you ask me.

This reminds me of the scandal in the US recently where they found many hi-tech components in armed forces' hardware were cheap imported versions.

Sure, someone is always trying to make money somewhere, but with vital equipment like nuclear reactors and peripherals we should not be messing around cutting corners. Period.

Power shortages. Well, now they'll have an idea of what their northern brethren experience on a regular basis. And winter is just around the corner. Brrr.

nandakandamandaNov. 05, 2012 - 04:31PM JST

This reminds me of the scandal in the US recently where they found many hi-tech components in armed forces' hardware were cheap imported versions.

That case was actually worse, a certified contractor used a supplier that had chips tainted by a chinese middleman company. The outside looked perfect except the serial numbers weren't in the manufacturer's records. The inside was a mess of wires at best, totally empty at worst. Same happened with some PIC and ATMega chips in the consumer/prosumer end too.

Wouldn't be surprised if the chinese did something again, not unexpected in the least bit.

Our greed for stupidity is beyond reason. What a dumb-assed species we are.

The same stench of corruption from the nuclear industry....that defies all borders.

Why am I becoming concerned that nuclear power can't be safe because the people responsible are incompetent or corrupt? Which is pretty bad when you consider I'm a pro nuke engineer. But this level of corruption shows a complete disregard of what a disaster would do to SK. Scary stuff.

Good post gelendestrasse. The human link is often the weakest.