Recent explosions at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan will have no serious impact in Korea, experts said in a conference Thursday.
The Korea Green Foundation, a leading environmental group here, held an academic conference on the impact of the deepening nuclear crisis in earthquake-hit Japan.
“Considering the long distance from here and the radiation level is diluted as it spreads, the (Wednesday) explosion of the second reactor unit at the Fukushima plant would not affect Korean people,” said Lee Un-chul, nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University.
“You don’t need to worry. There is also no need to wear a protective mask now,” he added.
He explained that the early response to the accident at the nuclear power plant could have been better conducted by Japanese officials.
“Even though Japan may be best-prepared for earthquakes, the officials may have difficulties dealing with unpredictable situations,” he added.
Lee Seok-ho, a senior official at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, also predicted that it is unlikely radiation leaks from Japan would blow to the Korean Peninsula.
“Westerly winds would continue to blow according to the current wind direction and the weather agency’s forecast. There would be no direction shift for some time,” he said.
“We are receiving real-time information from some 70 monitoring machines installed across the nation. If any emergency situation occurs, we are ready to respond to it promptly.”
However, civic group members showed doubts about the Korean government’s preparedness for such a disaster, questioning the safety of nuclear power plants here.
“About the recent accidents in Japan, the Japanese government is presuming the worst situation, while the Korean government is considering the best scenario,” said Yang Lee Won-young, director of energy and climate at the Korea Federation for Environment Movement.
According to her, the Korean government has stocked potassium iodine for 1.25 million people and “Prussian blue” for only 130 people. Both medicines are known to protect against radiation damage.
Jang Jeong-uk, economics professor at Matsuyama University in Japan, pointed out that not enough information about the nuclear power plant is shared with the public.
“Because the information is discussed only among government officials and experts, there is no way for ordinary citizens to access the issue,” he said.
“There are more than 100 books in Japan that help non-professionals easily understand nuclear power. But in Korea I could find only three.”
By Lee Ji-yoon (
jylee@heraldcorp.com)
