Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake in South Korea Does Not Affect Safety of Nuclear Facilities

On August 23, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of South Korea reported that at 6:43 a.m. that day, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred approximately 21 kilometers northwest of Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. It was confirmed that all nuclear reactors and related nuclear facilities in South Korea were operating stably, with no abnormalities detected.

The nuclear facility closest to the epicenter was the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant, approximately 83.2 kilometers away. The peak ground acceleration recorded at this plant during the earthquake was 0.0032g, far below its seismic design basis of 0.2g, and it is expected that the safety of the facility will not be affected.

The Hanbit Regional Office of the NSSC has conducted emergency safety inspections at the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant site, and no abnormalities were found in the inspection results.

Ground motion levels recorded at other nuclear facilities were also relatively low. Among them, the Kori Nuclear Power Plant recorded 0.0016g, the Shin-Kori Nuclear Power Plant 0.0004g, the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant 0.0002g, the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant 0.0008g, and the HANARO research reactor 0.0001g.