State prosecutors said Wednesday they have requested court-issued warrants for 13 people to detain them for further questioning on charges that they forged quality warranties of components used in local nuclear reactors.

The suspects allegedly supplied various critical plant equipment to Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, the state-run operator of nuclear power plants, after doctoring their safety tests and certificates, the Supreme Prosecutors‘ Office said.

Releasing a preliminary probe outcome into a snowballing corruption scandal involving the nuclear power operator, the SPO said that two have been put in jail with court-issued warrants pending trial and a decision on warrants for 11 others will be made soon.

Additionally, some of the suspects allegedly took bribes from testing company officials in return for accepting substandard parts with fabricated safety tests, prosecutors said. (Yonhap News)