‘LS Cable should be punished’ for providing faulty cables to nuclear power plants, causing at least one-year delay in the operation of two new reactors

2013-10-20 17:22

‘LS should be punished’

Energy experts call for example-setting action on faulty cable maker
By Choi Kyong-ae
Lawyers and energy experts are calling on the government to get tough with JS Cable. JS Cable is an affiliate of LS Group and was recently found to have provided faulty cables to nuclear power plants, causing at least one-year delay in the operation of two new reactors.“The government should push ahead with legal action (against JS Cable) as it announced it would take appropriate measures even if JS Cable won’t be able to afford a huge fine and may go bankrupt,” Park Ju-bum, a lawyer at Barun Law, told The Korea Times by telephone.
The cost of the one-year delay in operations could reach 4 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to calculations by The Korea Times.
“JS Cable will be ruled out from supply contracts with the government for up to two years,” Park said, hinting that this will ruin the firm.
JS Cable is 70 percent owned by LS Cable & System. The two companies, core affiliates of LS Group, have the same chairman and CEO, Koo Cha-yub. He leads the family-owned electrical equipment group.
Other experts pointed out the government too should be held accountable.
The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the operator of the country’s nuclear power plants, and the trade ministry are also involved in the scandal.
The latest findings followed indictments of 100 suppliers and officials on corruption charges.
“We are looking at all possible options, including filing a countersuit (against KHNP),” an LS official said.
Suh Kune-yull, a professor at the Nuclear Engineering Department of Seoul National University, said public officials and suppliers seem to have colluded with each other for decades, and the lack of supervision has made things worse.
The professor argued experts at home and abroad had advised the government early this year to replace the Korean-made cables in the domestic reactors with globally-proven U.S. products.
He explained the experts noticed the cables used in the Korean reactors were the same faulty ones installed in reactors to be exported to the United Arab Emirates. The cables used in these reactors worth about $20 billion were replaced with U.S. products made by RSCC Aerospace & Defense.
In response to Suh’s argument, a KHNP official said Sunday the RSCC-made cables were initially planned to be used for the reactors being built by KHNP and KEPCO in the UAE.
As the JS Cable-made cables failed to pass the qualification tests, the government said on Friday it was in talks with a U.S. cable maker to replace the faulty products in Korean reactors.
Currently, six out of the country’s 23 reactors are offline for maintenance or other reasons. The reactors generate about a third of the electricity the country needs.
Asia’s fourth-biggest economy recently released its long-term plan to cut its reliance on nuclear energy to between 22 and 29 percent by 2035 from the current 41 percent. But it will stick to the plan to build 11 more reactors by 2024 to meet growing demand.