Safety commission OKs restart of Wolseong No.3 nuclear reactor

SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's nuclear commission on Wednesday approved the restarting of a reactor located in the southern part of the country, three months after suspension of operations.

The Wolseong-3 reactor located in Gyeongju, 370 kilometers south of Seoul, went offline on Oct. 18 due to a problem in the coolant pump, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said.

One of the components malfunctioned, leading to a coolant leakage, the commission said, adding that it has fully addressed the fault.

"The commission confirmed that the radiation level around the nuclear facility has remained constant at a normal level," it said.

Currently, South Korea operates 24 nuclear reactors, which generate about 30 percent of its electricity.
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