failure. Fortunately thanks to power generation system of the hospital, any incidents did not occur. A hospital official said while giving attention, “For this time, we passed a crisis because of short term of power failure. However, if blackout last for a long period, we cannot guarantee what may happen.”
What Is A Blackout?
Korea experienced the blackout situation caused by the power outage of some area due to lack of power supply.
The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) decided to organize generators for the power supply needed in
winter, because the dangerous summer season (June 27 to September 9) had passed. However, September 15, 2011, electricity demand exceeded the electricity peak expected by KEPCO, due to abnormal national weather. After all at 15:11, KEPCO and the Korea Power Exchange inevitably decided to implement the regional power outrage without any notification. Since we have experienced the blackout situation, the risk of blackout which has been considered to be other countries’ circumstances has begun to be recognized in earnest.
The direct cause of blackouts are varied. Natural disasters or accidental accidents could be the causes of blackouts. A sudden stop at power plants, miscalculating the electric demand, or cutting high-tension wire by natural disaster, could be reason for a blackout. However in any case, the fundamental reason for a blackout is electricity shortage. If the electricity lack in quantity, can’t we conserve the electricity for a long time? A question may be asked about why we can’t use electricity in the whole region not only shortage place. Blackout occurs when voltage and frequency heavily change in electrical grid. Frequency and voltage are greatly reduced when electricity usage increase more than electricity supply. As a result, the system that manages electrical grid would
stop and, in the end the whole electrical grid would die. All generators could be stopped by the lack of electricity supply and blackout regions are surrounded by darkness after all. This is the identity of a phenomenon called a blackout. Yoon Jaeyeong, the senior researcher of the Korea Electro technology Research Institute said, “The voltage and frequency is the same as human’s blood pressure and heart rate.” Then, is there any country where a blackout actually occurred? Blackouts might be regarded as common in underdeveloped countries but the United States has been damaged by blackouts several times. It was shameful to the United States which first harnessed electricity and commercialized it. On 14 August 2003, the blackout occurred in eastern states due to 6,180 kW supplies stopped, which was 1.3 times more than the electricity peak consumption of Korea. 55 million people and $6 billion were damaged by the blackout in 3 days. The cause of the outage was a generator and transmission line failure. Power failure was started by transmission lines and generator failures sporadically in Ohio. In early days, it occurred in some areas, but power grid could not be shut off quickly and in the end it is spread to the whole eastern states of America.
Sudden Change in Electricity Demand or Disaster Caused by Human Error
The government and a group of institution consider the cause of the September 15 blackout as sudden increase of electricity demand. In order to reduce electricity demand of summer season, the government sets a limit on airconditioning temperature and gives a warning to the shops that leave their doors open while running an electric aircon. To reduce the electricity demand, they even give a subsidy to industries. It was similar to this summer. The
electricity demand of last 12th August has risen to 79.7 million Kw. It was the biggest record in history. However,
people and industries well respond to power-saving movement, we dramatically passed the blackout disaster. Moreover, the supply and demand program has an instant effect on the nation. Jo Jong-man, the operator of central
electricity power center said that we could secure 2 million Kw thanks to the supply and demand program. Jo explained, “If we had not executed the program, the backup power would have dropped to -26.6 million Kw.” However, can’t we consider such sudden increase of electricity demand as absence of energy saving?
the huge electricity demand. Now, factories use electricity instead of gas and oil. They melt iron and make salt by electricity. However, anyone who needs electricity does not directly generate electricity, it is just only consumed. As a result, electricity productivity of Korea companies is the half of OECD average. In the Korea market, products
which make electricity efficiently can’t be sold. It doesn’t need to. Company’s competitiveness is generated only
by using electricity which is cheaper than oil. Korea is a paradise of cheap electricity charges for companies.
The Dishonesty of Nuclear Power Plants Became Other Human Errors
The corruption of the nuclear power generation is the most significant cause of the rising in shortages of electric power. Since 2012, the crisis of the nuclear power generation has been exposed to the public; it has increased tension in South Korea that already experienced indirectly some form of the danger of nuclear power in Japan. At the start, the nuclear irregularities rose up in Youngkwang, South Korea in November 2012. While there was a regular checking for the conditions of nuclear power plants, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) found out that the control rod of guide thimble in the nuclear generator, Youngkwang no. 3 was damaged. It was the first hand-built nuclear power plant of South Korea that produced electricity successfully after it had started the operation in March 1994. As a result, the Youngkwang no. 3 took a significant role as a general model for Korea
standard nuclear power plant, the problem was inevitable. Besides, it was possible to emit radioactive vapor if the control rod does not work properly. As a result, radioactivity influences fatally on everything including lives, the problem needed to be solved as soon as possible. However, the KHNP1) and Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC), where was the organization of regulation, did not open the situation to the public at first. Even though some people had doubt about covering up a fact, the problem on Youngkwang no.3 was only the beginning. After the public focused on nuclear power plants, the dilemma with forged part of machinery became an issue. Once the issue emerged, other problems related to that issue continuously came out. More than 600 machinery parts in nuclear power plants in Youngkwang and Uljin were forgery; data for verification of machinery
components were also counterfeit. Above and beyond, the results of an examination of 694 components were faked
in Youngkwang as well.
As faked machinery parts were used, NSSC2)stopped the operation of two nuclear power generators such as Shinkori no. 2 and Shinwolsung no. 1. At this point, there are 23 nuclear generators in South Korea; 10 out of 23
generators stopped the operation due to safety problems. As a result, 10 nuclear generators shut downed, it was impossible to produce 7.7 million kilowatts that was 37% of the total nuclear power capacity in South Korea. The
Canadian inspection agency for nuclear parts rejected the performance of the cable; however, the Korean company
had forged the test report and hidden the truth. In addition, the domestic companies in Korea illegally fabricate the
seals of qualified offices and put those seals on the test results. The KHNP focused on the profits of executives and staff members rather than safety and prevention of nuclear problems.
We Need A Backup Plan
It is the most important thing that governments must make no further mistakes and adjust the electricity charges
system, but we must prepare provision of blackout for ourselves. New renewable energy means using energy from resources which are continuously refilled such as wind, sunlight, waves, and tides. Nowadays, electricity is an essential resource for human beings around the world. The main resource of producing electricity is fossil fuels; those fossil fuels are energy efficient and there are diverse kinds. However, using the fossil fuels is unstable to use.
It is influenced by international prices which are used for buying fossil fuels. In the worst case, whole power plants can be shut down by international circumstances. In addition, it brings negative environmental consequences such as global warming. New renewable energy is needed, especially in Korea where the fossil fuels are hardly found. Currently, more than 90% of the domestic production of electricity depends on nuclear power, coal, and combined cycles. Besides, the progress of develop new and renewable energy still stays in the bottom compared to other OECD countries. The blackout can happen anytime if nuclear operators stop the operation and due to insufficient amount of reserved energy to use. Therefore, focusing and developing new and renewable energy is highly essential. Moreover, the shortage of nuclear power in 2012 caused losses of more than 2.8 trillion won. If there were alternative energy, it would prevent unexpected economic expenses.
What Actions Need to Be Taken
The shortage of electricity is a significant problem in Korea as the daily lives of individuals are closely related to using energy. There were several causes of electricity shortage such as human error, excessive demand of electricity, interruption of nuclear generator, and unconcern for renewable energy. As the anxiety of people keeps increasing, the government and individuals especially, universities need to take actions in order to prevent unhelpful consequences. First, the government should make sure that nuclear power plants run properly; there should be no illegal aspects of operations. Any damages or problems at nuclear power plants are fatal because of radioactivity. Even minute parts or components can cause deadly influences. Therefore, nuclear power plants should be under regular observation and test to ensure the safety. Moreover, the administration also requires investing in exploitation of alternative energy. There are varied forms of renewable energy such as solar, wind, and biomass. It is necessary to focus on other options before experiencing the lack of fossil fuels that South Korea mostly depends on obtainment of energy.
Energy saving can be achieved at the university as well. Universities are the place where both the amount of demanded and wasted electricity are high. There are many classrooms in university and students can freely use those rooms without permissions. They can also use computers if students have assignments or projects to finish. However, the problem is that individual students do not consider turning the lights off. The energy can be saved by simply turning the switch off. A conversion raising awareness about saving and managing the energy is required for university students. It is important to become aware of that energy, especially electricity is wasted widely in university. There are some ways to awaken feeling of warning or prevent the excessive energy used. For instance, student groups can be created to supervise some areas of campus such as classrooms and toilets. By doing that, there are more individuals who can spot the problems at anytime. As power shortage problem is becoming more serious, attention and efforts of finding solutions should be further required.
1) KHNP: Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power
2) NSSC: Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
By Park Jeong-yeon / CP Reporter / pjy2616@cnu.ac.kr
By Baek Jin / CP Cub-Reporter / jinny524@cnu.ac.kr