The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission announced on October 8 that there are no safety issues at any domestic nuclear reactor facilities in relation to the magnitude 3.1 earthquake that occurred in Okcheon County, North Chungcheong Province.
The facility closest to the epicenter is the Hanaro research reactor in Yuseong District, Daejeon, located 39 kilometers away. The seismic measurement at this location was confirmed to be 0.0119g.
According to the commission, this value is lower than the seismic design threshold of 0.2g and is at a level that does not affect the facility. Emergency on-site inspections also found no abnormalities. Hanaro has been shut down since August 25 for a scheduled inspection.
However, although the seismic measurement exceeded Hanaro's earthquake alert setting of 0.0067g, no earthquake alert was triggered. Experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) will be dispatched to investigate the cause.
In the case of nuclear power plants, the commission stated that the nearest facility, Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant, recorded a seismic measurement of 0.0043g, which is below the seismic design threshold.
Meanwhile, at 11:49 a.m. on the same day, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred 17 kilometers east of Okcheon County, North Chungcheong Province. This was the third strongest earthquake among the 63 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher that have occurred on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters this year.
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