GE asked Seoul for immunity from nuclear accidents

Rep. Kim Won-Wung of the opposition Grand National Party asserted Monday that General Electric Company (GE) of the United States demanded the Korean and U.S. governments grant it immunity from liability in case of nuclear-related accidents in North Korea. The GE is to provide core technology for the turbine generator of the light-water reactor.

During the parliamentary inspection of the Unification Ministry, Rep. Kim alleged that the American company notified the two countries that unless its demand was met, it would not participate in the nuclear project. If so, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) would face difficulty in its reactor construction program, he added.

Rep. Kim further said that the Korean government had belatedly tried to persuade the GE but failed to do so, adding that it excluded the company from the project and is promoting a plan to order the turbine generator from Toshiba of Japan.

The GNP lawmaker went on to say that the U. S. House of Representatives passed a foreign-related budget bill for 2001 on Jul. 13, stipulating that the American government shall not take any responsibility for nuclear-related accidents during the course of the light-water reactor construction.

Noting that the North Korean workers at the construction site withdrew from the work places demanding wage hikes in April and Seoul had to replace them with the South Korean workers, he said that the Northern laborers received US$110 per month in accordance with agreement between Pyongyang and the KEDO.

The related Unification Ministry officials asserted that the North was bound to take all nuclear- elated accidents, saying that the GE asked for the immunity on the grounds that its stake in the reactor project was small but Seoul rejected it.