[Hankyoreh Editorial] Radioactive risks in Northeast Asia

Hankyoreh
[Editorial] Radioactive risks in Northeast Asia
Posted on : Mar.28,2011 13:00 KST

Radioactive material apparently leaked from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant has been detected in South Korea. According to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), a minute quantity of xenon was detected by a radioactivity measurement site in Gangwon Province a few days ago, and it is surmised that some of the radioactive material from the Fukushima plant traveled to the Kamchatka Peninsula, rounded the polar regions, and returned south by way of Siberia.

While it was only an exceedingly small quantity incapable of having any negative effects on South Koreans’ health or environment, it still raises grave concerns. Contrary to government’s statements that the country is safe because of the westerlies, it has now been proven that radioactive material can arrive anywhere on the branches formed in the different regions.

With the detection of material in other areas affected by westerlies, including not only the United States and Europe but also neighboring China, the sense of alarm is heightening all over the world. Depending on how the analysis results turn out, there is a possibility that other radioactive materials besides xenon will be discovered. While xenon is relatively harmless to the human body, prolonged exposure is said to lead to lung ailments.

The Lee Myung-back administration must abandon its laid-back assessment of the situation and prepare far-ranging measures in consideration of a potential worst-case scenario. While the possibility of other radioactive materials besides xenon being detected is slight, infants and pregnant women can suffer harm from even small quantities, a fact that is prompting growing concerns.

Above all else, it needs to conduct thorough monitoring and notify the public in advance about the quantities and routes of any material that could enter the country. Nuclear power authorities reportedly discovered xenon in a sample collected on Mar. 23 but delayed the announcement for four days because the quantities were small and they were attempting to determine a connection with a possible North Korean nuclear test. This is untrustworthy behavior in light of concerns and anxieties among the South Korean public.

It is fortunate, at least, that the administration made the belated decision at an Atomic Energy Commission meeting presided over by the prime minister yesterday to examine the safety of all nuclear power plants in South Korea and confirm their security under worst-case scenario conditions. However, it also needs to set up thorough measures to prepare for the eventuality of radioactive material entering the Korean Peninsula from one of the surrounding countries.

China, which has thirteen nuclear power plants in operation, is planning to build 77 more in the future, which will make East Asia a high-density region for such plants. Should radioactive material leak from central China, it is said that it will enter the West Sea area two days later, and that all of South Korea will fall in a high-concentration impact zone after four days. If we imagine a situation like the Fukushima disaster occurring in China, the northwest and southeast winds would place the peninsula smack in the middle of a danger zone the likes of which are too terrible to contemplate. We hope to see the administration holding close discussions with China and Japan over the nuclear power plant safety issue.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]