The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it received a report at 10:34 a.m. on the 9th that uranium hexafluoride gas had leaked inside a facility at KEPCO NF's Nuclear Fuel Building 3 in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, and began an investigation.
Uranium hexafluoride is a gaseous uranium compound known to be radioactive and chemically toxic.
KEPCO NF reported that gas leaked because the sealing of the maintenance area was not sufficiently completed during maintenance of the uranium converter facility. It then explained to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission that it shut off the valve on the gas supply line immediately after recognizing the leak to prevent further release.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said that a safety check conducted through its Daejeon regional office found no radioactive release outside the facility and that there were no injuries because no workers were at the site at the time.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said, "A fact-finding team composed of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) experts has been dispatched to the site," and added, "We plan to conduct a thorough investigation, including analysis of the root cause of the incident."