South Korea may be able to restart a nuclear reactor, which was shut down Friday due to a technical malfunction, as early as next week, the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said Monday.
"This is a minor technical problem, so the reactor doesn't require a long maintenance checkup," said a spokeswoman at Korea Hydro. "Given the tight power supply situation, we may restart it in a week or so if we get permission from the government."
An official at the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said its inspection of the reactor is ongoing and the exact timing for restarting the plant couldn't be determined at this point.
The one-gigawatt reactor at the Hanwool Nuclear Power Plant in Uljin County on South Korea's eastern coast halted operations Friday afternoon, aggravating a tight power-supply situation in the country.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said last month it will enforce lower power usage in the public and private sectors until the end of August as the country faces its worst-ever electricity shortage this summer.
Friday's shutdown leaves nine of South Korea's 23 reactors out of operation for a variety of reasons, including regular maintenance and safety concerns.
At proper capacity, South Korea's nuclear reactors supply about a third of the country's electricity needs.
Korea's nuclear power industry has been plagued by a series of forced shutdowns, corruption scandals and mechanical failures in recent years, undermining public confidence in atomic energy even as the country's dependence on it for electricity is expected to grow.
Two one-gigawatt reactors were forced to shut in late May after it was ascertained that they were operating with fabricated certificates for control cables.
Despite increasing public concern, the government has said it will stick with its schedule of building 11 more reactors by 2024 to meet rising power demand.