[3] Jae-hyeok is a young man who works at the aging Hanbyul Nuclear Power Plant, which is their namesake town's only source of energy and jobs and is currently undergoing construction of the second reactor unit.

Jae-hyeok expresses his desire to leave the town and the plant behind him and work on a fishing vessel to make money for his family, but is discouraged by everyone he knows, including his childhood friend and fiancee, Yeon-joo.

Due to the already aging safety systems, attempts to cool down the overheating reactor are botched, while the coolant valves, damaged by the earthquake, were unable to be fixed in time.

The reactor stack explodes from the pressure before the operators could manually open the valves to vent steam, leading to a full nuclear meltdown.

Yeon-joo, along with the town's residents manage to break out commandeers one of the buses to escape, while Jae-hyeok and other plant workers were only saved by a junior nurse, who decides to remain behind and treat the injured.

In his final moments, Jae-hyeok uses his helmet-mounted camera to broadcast a farewell message to his family and Yeon-joo before blowing up the tank, killing himself in the process.