S. Korea to restart oldest reactor after safety check: PM

SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- Defying mounting demands to shut down the country's oldest nuclear reactor, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Friday the reactor will be allowed to restart immediately if no problems are discovered in the ongoing safety check.
"The government will complete the safety check as quickly as possible and allow it to restart immediately if no problems are found in operating," Kim said during a weekly government policy coordination meeting.
"The government will thoroughly check all problems that have been raised and make a strict, scientific judgment about the safety of the reactor," he stressed.
The authorities began a comprehensive safety check on the 33-year-old Gori-1 reactor near Busan, South Korea's largest port city, on Thursday after it went into emergency shutdown caused by a minor mechanical problem last week.
The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) has said the reactor is capable of operating safely for another decade, but public concerns are mounting about the safety of domestic nuclear reactors following the massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled Japan's Fukushima nuclear power station last month.
Some local councils in Busan have adopted a series of resolutions calling for the closing of the Gori reactor for the safety of the regional residents since the emergency shutdown incident on April 12.
sshim@yna.co.kr