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NRC
Chairman Jaczko (l), NRC inspector Greg Warnock and Southern California
Edison Chief Nuclear Officer Pete Dietrich talk about the steam
generator issues at the San Onofre (Calif.) nuclear power plant. Photo
by Lynn Sakamoto of Southern California Edison
Friday,
April 6th, was a long day. Very long. We trouped out of the hotel about
6:45 a.m. and set off for the start of 12 hours of nonstop nuclear
issues.
First stop: the
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,
or SONGS to the residents of Southern California. The plant has two
reactors, Units 2 and 3 (Unit 1 was closed and taken down years ago).
Units 2 and 3 are having trouble with new steam generators – in essence
huge radiators to transfer heat from radioactive water from the reactors
to clean water that becomes steam and drives the turbines and
generators.
Some
wear was found on Unit 2’s steam generators when that unit went off
line in January. Then more pronounced wear forced Unit 3 to shut down
when a small leak developed that let a little radioactive water over to
the clean water side. Although the leak did not pose a threat to plant
workers or the surrounding communities, and was less than the NRC
requirement for shutdown, but plant officials shut the plant down
anyway.
The NRC, plant officials and residents were concerned.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko concluded
this issue was sufficiently serious to warrant a whirlwind trip to talk
with plant executives, employees, local citizen groups, elected
officials, California state power officials (with summer approaching
supply is an issue), and the news media.
The
SONGS stop was in conjunction with Senator Diane Feinstein, D-Calif.,
and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., whose district encompasses the plant.
They participated variously in the tour and briefings by plant
executives. Jaczko and Issa went into the normally sealed containment
dome of one of the reactors to see the massive steam generators.
The
day also included a press conference with a dozen cameras and about 20
reporters, with another 50 reporters and interested parties listening in
on a conference call the NRC arranged. That was followed by four
back-to-back meetings with local officials and residents concerned about
the plant.
At
each venue Jaczko’s message was the same: First, the plant has to find
the cause of the wear in Unit 3. Then it must see if there is anything
that would call into question the integrity of the devices in Unit 2.
And only then can anyone think of even temporarily restarting Unit 2.
There is no timeline. Safety trumps anything else, and to the maximum
extent possible information on the steam generator problem will be
public, with ample opportunity for residents to hear what is going on.
He also described Southern California Edison’s approach to the problem
as conservative and “the right thing to do.”
Members
of one of the larger groups of individuals to meet with Jaczko –
opposed to continued operation of the plant -- detailed their concerns.
“We’re
entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the licensee does
the right thing. We have the same interests at heart that you do,” he
told them.
Eliot Brenner
Director, Office of Public Affairs
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