Korea expects power outage due to nuke shut down

South Korea faces a severe energy shortage this month due to a combination of nuclear reactor shut down and hot weather.

This was the assessment of an official of the country's Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy presently runs a total of 21 nuclear reactors, which account for about a third of the country’s energy mix, but four of them stopped operations for repairs or fire, resulting in losses of 3.6 million kilowatts.

According to , the nation’s reserve electricity in peak times frequently fell below the dangerous 5 million kilowatt mark this month.

``The current power supply amounts to around 63.4 million kilowatts, down by 5.6 million kilowatts from a year before, while the maximum demand surpasses 59 million kilowatts, up by 1.7 million kilowatts,’’ said an MKE official."As a result, reserves plummet to as low as 4.2 million kilowatts, just 6.6 percent of capacity, when energy consumption reaches a peak during the hot daytime.’’

The official stated that the country should introduce a system of encouraging big companies to rearrange their operation times away from the early afternoon.

``For instance, we will ask companies to set employees’ summer holiday for late August when energy reserves tend to hit their lowest level. Plus, repairs of many nuclear reactors will be readjusted from spring to fall.’’

In the aftermath of the unprecedented rolling power cuts last September, brought about by an unseasonable heat wave, the MKE has made energy polices its top priority.

While admitting that low energy prices are one of the main reasons for rocketing consumption, the MKE fell short of coming up with pledges to increase bills.

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