A nuclear reactor, whose operation had been suspended in November for maintenance, was reactivated Sunday. When the 1 million kilowatt reactor in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, goes into full operation Thursday, it will provide some relief to the nation, which has recently experienced perilously low power reserves.

But the administration is suspected of putting undue pressure on the nuclear watchdog to speed up safety checks on the reactor. It goes without saying that it has to strive to forestall a power crisis. Yet, it should be reminded that safety must come first.

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission recently promised it would not give the green light to the reactor until it was sure that no substandard parts were in use. The nuclear watchdog made the commitment when parts whose test certificates had been forged were found to have been supplied for other reactors.

On Sunday, the watchdog allowed the Yeonggwang reactor to be reactivated, saying that no substandard parts had been used in it. But the problem is that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy had already been saying on Friday that the reactor would possibly resume operations on Sunday, which the ministry’s detractors claim was evidence that it had put undue pressure on the watchdog to speed up the safety checks.

Of course, this is not to say that safety was compromised for speedy checks. Indeed, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety says that it did not cut corners and that it mobilized more inspectors than usual to complete the checks in a shorter period of time.

The ministry’s alleged impatience was not beyond comprehension, given that the nation’s power reserve dropped well below the tolerable level on Wednesday. When it went below 3.5 million kilowatts, a level 2 warning was issued about a power shortage.

Unless demand for power is tamed, the specter of blackouts is likely to persist in late July and the first three weeks of August. According to one estimate, demand, if unchecked, would exceed supply by 840,000 kilowatts to 1.98 million kilowatts during that period.

To make it through looming power crisis, the administration demands large manufacturers and buildings cut their power use by 3-15 percent during the peak period. In a related move, the Seoul metropolitan government promises to cut the number of subway trains in operation by 12.5 percent during this period.

Successful power management also depends on how many reactors that have gone out of operation for one reason or another will be restarted before peak season. Here again, inspectors must be given ample time to determine which of them are fit to resume operations.