In Preparation for Large-Scale Accidents...
Second Regional Command Center Following Uljoo
The opening ceremony of the Hanul Regional Radiological Emergency Response Command Center is taking place. (June 18, 2025) Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (Chairman Choi Wonho) announced on June 18 that it held the opening ceremony for the Hanul Regional Radiological Emergency Response Command Center (Regional Command Center) in Uljin-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. The Hanul Regional Command Center is built on a 10,000-square-meter site, with a three-story above-ground building and a total floor area of 2,000 square meters. Construction began in June 2023, and operations started this month.
To enable a swift response in the event of a nuclear power plant accident, the commission operates on-site radiological emergency response command centers (on-site command centers) in areas 5 to 15 kilometers from each of the five domestic nuclear power plants (Wolsong, Hanbit, Kori, Hanul, and Saeul).
However, in the event of a large-scale accident such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, where access to the on-site command center may be impossible and the center's functions may be lost, the need for a regional command center capable of responding to accidents from outside a 30-kilometer radius of the plant has been consistently raised.
Accordingly, the Uljoo Regional Command Center (located in Samnam-eup, Uljoo-gun, Ulsan), situated 30 kilometers from Kori Nuclear Power Plant and 38 kilometers from Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant, opened in August 2022 as the first regional command center. With the launch of the Hanul Regional Command Center, it has now become the second such center to begin operations.
Going forward, the Hanul Regional Command Center will serve as the main hub for on-site response in the event of major nuclear power plant accidents?such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or simultaneous incidents at multiple reactors?when the Uljin on-site command center is unable to function. The distance from Hanul Nuclear Power Plant to the Uljin on-site command center is approximately 15 kilometers, and to the Hanul Regional Command Center is about 39 kilometers.
With the opening of the Hanul Regional Command Center, the commission now has a total of seven centers nationwide?five on-site command centers and two regional command centers?establishing a system capable of responding to any nuclear power plant accident. Next year, the Hanbit Regional Command Center (31 kilometers from Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant) in Buan-gun, North Jeolla Province, is scheduled for completion.
At the opening ceremony, attendees included Choi Wonho, chairman of the commission; Son Byungbok, mayor of Uljin-gun; Oh Dochang, mayor of Yeongyang-gun; Kim Jeonghee, chairman of the Uljin County Council; Park Younggil, chairman of the Hanul Nuclear Safety Council; Lim Seungcheol, president of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS); and Lee Seyong, head of the Hanul Nuclear Power Headquarters at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
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