Fire Shuts S. Korea Nuclear Plant SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A nuclear power plant forced to shut down for 13 hours after raging forest fires threatened its power transmission lines was reopened Wednesday.

The French-made plant in Uljin, 155 miles east of Seoul, was able to reopen after firefighters and villagers managed to extinguish the flames. Three other nuclear power plants in the area, all French-made, were unaffected by the fire and stayed open.

South Korea's four major cement factories were forced to suspend operations Wednesday because fire knocked down their power supplies.

Forest fires raged through South Korea's rugged east coast mountain ranges for almost a week, forcing thousands of villagers to flee their homes.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 12, 2000

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Thursday 13 April 2000 Fire shuts S Korea nuclear plant SEOUL, South Korea: Tens of thousands of South Koreans were ordered to evacuate their homes, and factories and schools were shut down Wednesday as forest fires spread along the eastern coast, officials said.

Two people have been killed and four injured in the weeklong fires, which also destroyed about 700 homes. The hardest-hit cities were Kangnung, Tonghae and Samchok, all along the coast.

Thousands of soldiers and government officials were mobilized, but they had difficulty extinguishing the fires amid seasonal dry weather and strong winds, officials said.

A nuclear power plant that was forced to shut down for 13 hours after raging forest fires threatened its power transmission lines was reopened Wednesday.

The French-made plant in Uljin, 155 miles east of Seoul, was able to reopen after firefighters and villagers managed to extinguish the flames. Three other nuclear power plants in the area, all French- made, were unaffected by the fire and stayed open.

South Korea's four major cement factories were forced to suspend operations Wednesday because fire knocked down their power supplies.

Television footage showed old villagers weeping over blackened livestock and smoking debris of what used to be the homes of farmers who cultivated mountain slopes.(AP)

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

(14-Apr-2000) Hong Kong Standard TIGERNET Saturday Nuclear plant saved as winds die

CAPTION: A man tries to save his home in Donghae, 280 kilometres east of Seoul. South Korea's worst brush fires swept nearby mountains and threatened to engulf nuclear power plants before strong winds died down. Picture: AFP

STORY: SEOUL: Firefighters took advantage of weakening winds to battle back against brush fires yesterday and save a nuclear power complex from the flames.

``The nuclear power plants are now safe and operating normally,'' said an official at the complex of three reactors on the east coast at Uljin in Kangwon province.

Earlier in the day, the fire reached to within 3.5 kilometres of the facility. But by late yesterday, 3,000 people, including family members of power-plant employees, who had evacuated the area were returning to their homes.

Helicopters were still hovering over the area, however, as firefighters worked through embers.

Firefighters and forestry officials thanked a marked change in the wind, which died down to 18 kph from 72 kph within an hour.

The fires ``have nearly been quelled'', said Kim Son Ha of the forestry service.

In other areas, firefighters backed by volunteer crews and the military were reported to be on top of their situations.

Prime Minister Park Tae Joon, who visited the scorched Kangwon province, said the cabinet would seek to designate fire-torn areas as disaster zones to help rehabilitation.

Flames had rushed up hillsides surrounding the city of Donghae in Kangwon's mountains, keeping nearly 35,000 people on alert for a possible evacuation.

While the South was getting on top of its fires, there was a question mark over North Korea. Satellite photos showed fires there, though there was no information from there about damage or countermeasures.

The satellite scenes from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed brush fires raging in the northeastern mountains.

Infra-red photographs showed streams of heat sweeping hundreds of kilometres eastwards over the Sea of Japan _ from both the South's Kangwon area and the North's Hamkyong province.

Eight thousand hectares of forest and 506 homes were reported to have been destroyed in the South since the first fires last Thursday.

Two people died in the flames and 15 were injured, said an official of the Ministry of Government Administration and Local Autonomy in Seoul. ``It could could be even worse as we are still totalling damage reports,'' Chon In Chol added.

Weather officials blamed a dry spell that was unusual for the time of year. The conditions left trees tinder try, and then strong winds fanned fires that were said to have been causes by careless visitors to the mountain woodlands.

Forestry authorities said there had been 506 brush fires reported in South Korea so far this year. That compared with 151 in the corresponding period last year. - Agence France-Presse

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 14, 2000.