DAEJEON, SOUTH KOREA (BNO NEWS) -- Several workers at a state-run nuclear power research institute in central South Korea took shelter on Sunday afternoon when a radiation emergency alert was sounded, officials said.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) said it issued a "white radiation emergency" alert at 2.32 p.m. local time when the radiation level of a reactor, a 30 megawatt HANARO unit, surpassed its permitted emission limit.

The incident happened at an institute in Daejeon, the fifth largest city in South Korea and is located about 164 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital of Seoul.

The "white radiation emergency" is the lowest of the three-scale warning system and forced several employees at the facility to take immediate shelter as a precaution. No radiation leaked outside, however, and there were no injuries.

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