SEOUL (Reuters) - Two South Korean nuclear reactors remained shut on Wednesday, raising the prospect of winter power shortages, as the government investigated how thousands of parts for the reactors were supplied using forged safety documents.
Kim Joong-kyum, the president and CEO of power utility Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), which owns the operator of South Korea's 23 nuclear plants, tendered his resignation for what KEPCO officials said were "personal reasons".
The presidential office will decide this weekend whether to accept Kim's resignation, said a senior economy ministry official, who didn't want to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Eight companies submitted 60 false certificates to cover more than 7,000 parts used in the reactors between 2003 and 2012, and Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo told parliament that most of the documents, which purported to come from certifying body UCI, were forgeries.
A senior ministry official told Reuters that UCI was one of 12 U.S. certifiers, but was not one of the eight firms under investigation. The firms have not been named.
KEPCO shares fell as much as 5 percent to their lowest in four weeks - and looked set for their biggest one-day drop in more than 13 months.
Due to maintenance, other glitches and the investigation, seven of South Korea's 23 nuclear reactors - which generate close to a third of the country's electricity - are now closed. A further three reactors are being investigated to see if forged certificates were used to verify parts when they were built.
The authorities have stressed that the parts are non-crucial and there is no safety risk.
(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Editing by Ed Davies and Ian Geoghegan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-says-forged-nuclear-certificates-unnamed-parties-023151551.html
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