'Symbol of Pohang Earthquake' Removal of Pohang Geothermal Power Drilling Rig Begins

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] The dismantling of the drilling rig for the Pohang Geothermal Power Plant, which triggered the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that occurred in Pohang, Gyeongbuk in November 2017, has begun.

Drilling rig for Pohang geothermal power plant lying down for demolition.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the industry on the 20th, the Japanese company that purchased the drilling rig carried out the operation of laying the rig down at the Pohang Geothermal Power Plant site in Heunghae-eup, Buk-gu, Pohang City, to dismantle it. The work, which started at 2 p.m., was completed without any issues in about 30 minutes. The workers plan to dismantle the rig and take it to Japan by the 31st of this month.

Earlier, Shinhan Capital, the owner of the drilling rig, recently agreed on a sales contract for the rig with the Japanese company. Meanwhile, workers have been treating wastewater in the lower part of the rig and tanks and dismantling the main body of the rig.

The Pohang Geothermal Power Plant drilling rig was the site that triggered the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that occurred in Pohang on November 15, 2017.

The government investigation research team on the Pohang earthquake, composed of domestic and international experts, concluded that microearthquakes below magnitude 2.0 occurred during the process of drilling geothermal wells and injecting water at the geothermal power plant, which led to the occurrence of the magnitude 5.4 mainshock.

The city and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plan to install deep earthquake sensors and groundwater monitoring equipment in the borehole after dismantling the rig to establish an observation system and disclose the analysis results.

Seismic and geological experts believe that since the rig is separated from the underground borehole, proceeding with the dismantling will not significantly affect the safety of the site.

Meanwhile, the city is proposing the establishment and operation of the Pohang Earthquake Safety Management Research Center led by the government for long-term safety management. In the future, a semi-permanent drilling rig model will be produced at an appropriate location to be used as historical and educational material on the Pohang earthquake.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.