Southern California Ports at risk from San Onofre nuclear plant

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

A nuclear disaster at the San Onofre nuclear power plant could shut down both the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports.  Any cost benefit analysis of whether to restart San Onofre should include the economic impact of such a possibility.

According to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association:

California’s ports serve as a major economic engine for the state and the nation.  In 2008, port facilities processed an estimated $500 billion of goods [$559  billion in 2011].  More than 40 percent of containerized imports enter the country through California ports, and nearly 30 percent of the country’s exports depart through them.  Their far-reaching economic contributions to the regional economy include:

    • The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach generate more than $10 billion in state and local tax revenues a year.
    • Businesses that receive imports or ship exports through the Port of Los Angeles generate about $12.1 billion and stimulate an additional $5.5 billion in local industry indirect sales.
    • Employees for businesses that receive imports or ship exports through the Port of Los Angeles spend about $4.1 billion in the region.
    • With more than $100 billion of cargo moving through the Port of Long Beach every year, foreign and domestic shippers and steamship companies spend more than $5 billion in the region.
    • More than $10 billion a year is spent on wholesale distribution services for goods imported through the Port of Long Beach.

California ports also have a significant nationwide impact:

  • More than three million jobs across the country are linked to California’s public ports.
  • The Port of Los Angeles generates $21.5 billion in federal tax revenue.
  • More than $32 billion a year is spent nationwide on wholesale distribution services for goods that come through the Port of Long Beach.
Click here to view Port of Los Angeles website.
Click here to view Port of Long Beach website.
Click here to view CA Dept. of Finance “Foreign Trade through California Ports“.
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Top 25 U.S. Container Ports Map

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The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.
–Albert Einstein
 
Leaders need to operate on the basis of facts, not wishful thinking.
–Madeliene Albright
 
Posted in California Energy Commission, CPUC, Emergency Planning, Energy Options, NRC, nuclear power, Southern California Edison | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Earthquake size is unpredictable says USGS seismologist

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

USGS Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones (Pasadena) said regarding earthquake predictions:

We have no way looking forward and saying what is coming next. Which year, which day, which month — we don’t have anything that ties that down. In fact, we think it may just be fundamentally very random.

The information about how big an earthquake’s going to be may not be in the earth’s crust BEFORE the earthquake begins.

Dr. Jones discusses this in part 1 of this 3-part interview with Adrienne Alpert about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness in Southern California (ABC Newsmakers, September 2, 2012).

Watch Dr. Lucy Jones’ 9/2/2012 ABC interview:

Magnitude Comparison.
See also: 

About Dr. Lucile Jones

Dr. Lucile M. Jones has been a seismologist with the US Geological Survey and a Visiting Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech since 1983, and is currently the Chief Scientist for the Multi Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California, integrating hazards science with economic analysis and emergency response to increase community resiliency to natural disasters.

Dr. Jones has authored over 80 papers on research seismology with primary interest in foreshocks and earthquake physics, especially in southern California. Dr. Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Literature, Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University in 1976 and a Ph. D. in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. more…

Dr. Lucile M Jones’ contact info:
525 South Wilson Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91106-3212
jones@usgs.gov
626-583-6798 – Fax
 
Posted in Earthquake, Emergency Planning, USGS, Video | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Sign CREDO petition to NRC Chairman Macfarlane

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

The San Onofre nuclear plant is an accident waiting to happen!

Sign Petition to NRC Chair Macfarlane: Shutdown San Onofre

Click to sign petition to NRC Chair Macfarlane: Shutdown San Onofre

Click here to sign petition.

Eight million people in California will soon be endangered by America’s most dangerous nuclear power plant if the Southern California Edison power company has its way.

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which sits on the beach between Los Angeles and San Diego, was shut down temporarily in January after it was found to be leaking radioactive steam. But incredibly, Southern California Edison — the primary electricity provider for over 14 million people in Southern California — is now trying to bring the dangerous nuclear energy plant back online.1

This plant is unsafe, but it’s also totally unnecessary. Even without the San Onofre nuclear plant, there’s enough power generating capacity in Southern California to keep the lights on even on the hottest days of the year.2 We need to shut this plant down permanently, and force Southern California Edison to stop delaying implementation of clean, safe renewable energy generating systems.

Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Chairman, Allison Macfarlane: Shut down San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station permanently.

When this plant was shut down in January for maintenance, it was discovered that it had been leaking radioactive steam from the new steam generators that had just been installed in 2010. These new generators, which were installed at a cost of $700 million, were expected to allow the plant to remain open for many more years. But flaws in the design of these new parts led to an unexpectedly short lifespan despite the high cost of installation.

This came as no surprise to anyone who’s been tracking this plant. Data collected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shows that the San Onofre nuclear plant is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only does the plant have more complaints of safety problems from employees and contractors than any other nuclear power plant in the country,3 but it’s also the site of the most complaints of employee harassment and retaliation, meaning that employees who notice safety problems and try and speak out are being punished.4

Even worse, this plant is just five miles from the nearest earthquake fault line, and recent research has shown that it’s probably at higher risk of damage from an earthquake than previously thought. Not to mention the fact that it’s built on the beach of the Pacific Ocean — just like the Fukushima plant that experienced a meltdown in 2011 — making it susceptible to tsunami waves.

Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Chairman, Allison Macfarlane: Shut down San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station permanently.

Southern California Edison is endangering the lives of millions for a power plant they don’t need. The company needs to refocus efforts on renewable energy, and save Californians from a dangerous and aging nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new Chairman, Allison Macfarlane, can use her position to convince the commission’s other members that this plant shouldn’t reopen. She’s been an outspoken critic of nuclear dangers, like the Yucca Mountain complex. She needs to know how important it is to Californians that Southern California Edison isn’t allowed to put our state at risk for a major nuclear incident.

1. Dave Rice, “San Onofre: Even Longer Shutdown or Restarting Soon?” sandiegoreader.com, July 23, 2012
2. Morgan Lee, “Top grid regulator: SoCal in ‘fine shape’ for summer without San Onofre,” utsandiego.com, June 4, 2012
3. “San Onofre nuclear power plant has the worst safety record,” sanonofresafety.org
4. Abby Sewell, “San Onofre whistle-blowers less protected than others in California,” latimes.com, July 4, 2012
Posted in Action Alert, Earthquake, How to Help, NRC, nuclear power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CRISIS AT SAN ONOFRE: What to look for in the NRC’s Final Report

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Augmented Inspection Team may release their final report today about the steam generator problems at San Onofre.  Below is an important news advisory from Friends of the Earth.  See also, chart comparing San Onofre tube damage to all others in the nation.

http://www.foe.org/

NEWS ADVISORY: Monday, July 16, 2012

CONTACT:   Bill Walker, (510) 759-9911,  Damon Moglen, (202) 352-4223

CRISIS AT SAN ONOFRE:

What to Look For in the NRC’s Final Report

WASHINGTON, July 16 – As early as today, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to issue the final report from its Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) investigation of the steam generator crisis at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which has kept the plant shut down since January.

What to Look For in the NRC’s Final Report

Friends of the Earth, which has released a series of groundbreaking technical reports on the problems at the plant, has identified four crucial issues likely to be addressed in the report. We briefly discuss them below, and note that our experts – including Dave Freeman, former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, author of the previous FOE reports – will be available for comment upon release of the NRC report.

1. The “50.59” process. This NRC rule requires that if nuclear plant components are replaced, “like-for-like” equipment and technology must be used or else the operator must obtain a license amendment for the replacements.

• What NRC may say: The most likely outcome is that the AIT report will call for review or reform of the 50.59 process to ensure better compliance in the future.

• Friends of the Earth response: Southern California Edison did not comply with requirements of the 50.59 process. The replacement steam generators included major design changes that compromised the safety of the plant. The severe and unprecedented scale of damage to the steam generator tubes shows that replacement generators should have required a license amendment, and until there is one there should be no restart of these dangerous reactors.

2. Unit 2 vs. Unit 3. Edison maintains that because more tubes are damaged in Reactor Unit 3 than in Unit 2, the problems are most serious in Unit 3 and Unit 2 should be considered for restart.

• What NRC may say: The AIT report could affirm that while there are problems with all four steam generators, the two in Unit 3 are the main concern. As an explanation the report may offer that there are manufacturing differences between the generators in Units 2 and 3, which caused the greater tube wear in Unit 3.

• Friends of the Earth response: The design of the replacement steam generators in both Units 2 and 3  is fundamentally flawed. These components are far more severely damaged than any comparable equipment in the history of the U.S. nuclear industry. The main reason for the damage is Edison’s decision to remove a critical safety feature, the central stay cylinder, to make room for almost 400 more tubes in each generator – a decision driven by the desire for increased profits from the generation and sale of more electricity. About 8 percent of the tubes in Unit 2 are damaged vs. 9 percent in Unit 3. Both remain unsafe, and restarting either would be an irresponsible and unacceptable gamble.

3. Safety violations and fines. If Edison is found to have violated safety guidelines, financial penalties could be imposed by the NRC.

•What NRC may say: The AIT may identify what NRC calls repetitive or multiple “degraded (safety) cornerstones” resulting in a “significant reduction in safety margin,” and the agency would initiate proceedings to assess a fine.

• Friends of the Earth response: It’s good that NRC recognizes that Edison violated safety guidelines and will assess a fine. That’s no substitute for ensuring public safety, which means not restarting either reactor. The severe and unprecedented wear in thousands of tubes shows how close Southern California came to a nuclear disaster, whose human and monetary cost would dwarf any fine imposed on Edison.

4. Mitsubishi. Edison has attempted to defer blame to the manufacturer of the steam generators, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

• What NRC may say: The AIT report could affirm that Mitsubishi used a faulty computer simulation program that failed to correctly analyze the consequences of making significant design changes to the San Onofre steam generators.

• Friends of the Earth response: The design and fabrication of the replacement steam generators at San Onofre were jointly conducted by a team from Edison and one from Mitsubishi. Edison, not Mitsubishi, stood to profit from the addition of almost 1,500 steam tubes, which would  produce more electricity and more profit. Edison, not Mitsubishi, wanted to hide its violation of the NRC’s “like-for-like” rule. The utility’s attempts to blame Mitsubishi is a strategy that looks ahead to a court case in which Edison will try to recover some of the $671 million wasted on this doomed project.

Posted in Friends of the Earth, NRC, Press Release, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2012 July Tour – Founder of Fukushima Women Against Nuclear Power

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

From July 7th to July 18th, No Nukes Action Committee is coordinating a California-wide anti-nuclear tour with an anti-nuclear activist from Fukushima, Chieko Shiina, founder of Fukushima Women Against Nuclear Power.

She will start the tour with local anti-nuclear activists, and make stops almost everywhere from San Diego to Sonoma.

If you live in California, she may stop within a 2 hour radius of your neighborhood, so don’t miss this chance!

July 7th: San Diego
July 8th: Irvine
July 9th: Los Angeles
July 10th: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo
July 11th: Santa Cruz
July 12th: San Jose
July 13th: Pt. Reyes
July 14th: Sonoma, San Francisco
July 15th: Berkeley, San Francisco
July 16th: San Francisco
July 17th: Oakland
July 18th: Sebastopol

Please see the following website for details and spread the word : http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/california-anti-nuke-tour-of-chieko-shiina-a-fukushima-mother-and-farmer/

Who is Chieko Shiina?
Activist Chieko Shiina organized as a youth in farmer and student movements. She participated in the fight against the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, opposing the strengthening of military ties between the two countries. After the earthquake on March 11, 2011 and the subsequent ongoing nuclear disaster, she helped form Fukushima Women Against Nuclear Power, reached out to communities of affected women all over Japan to support local organizing against nuclear power, and coordinated with 100 women from Fukushima to set up a “Women’s 10 Months and 10 Days Sit-In”, which became a space for women from all over Japan to gather, communicate, and organize.

Donations Needed to Support the Tour!
Donations are needed to help support this tour. No Nukes Action Committee needs   donation for gas money, flight expense and food for drivers and coordinators!

For more information contact Steve Zeltzer: lvpsf@igc.org (415) 867-0628 or Umi Hagitani: nonukesactioncommittee@gmail.com (917) 774-4079.

Send all donations for the tour to:

Labor Video Project
P.O. Box 720027
San Francisco, CA 94172

 

Watch this compelling video of mothers from Fukushima sharing their experiences living in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster. 

It is up to us to make sure this does not happen here.

Posted in Events, Fukushima | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

San Onofre emergency backup diesel generators flawed for nearly three decades

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Donna Gilmore
This letter was sent to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, with a copy to the Orange County Register.

Dear Chairman,

We were stunned to learn recently that for nearly three decades, the San Onofre nuclear reactors have been operating with inherently flawed backup emergency diesel generators, flaws that could have caused these generators to shut down as a result of a major earthquake. According to documents submitted to the NRC on May 14 of this year by Southern California Edison, the operator of the San Onofre plant, the effect of a major seismic event on the high-frequency sensors that would trigger the shutdown of the backup generators had not been analyzed. Upon discovering this issue, the sensors were immediately turned off, indicating significant safety concerns.

Allowing the San Onofre nuclear reactors, located directly next to major fault lines, to operate with such a fundamental safety issue unexamined for three decades is a dramatic failure on the part of the commission. The loss of both offsite and onsite power, or station blackout, is the very condition that led to the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi (Japan). As you are aware, the seismic vulnerability of nuclear reactors has become an even more urgent issue in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. We are well aware of your particular concerns in this area. Tuesday’s news underscores the need for immediate and urgent action.

This critical safety flaw, only now revealed, posed an unacceptable risk to the 8 million people who live within 50 miles of the San Onofre nuclear plant and the untold numbers that would be affected by radioactive fallout from a catastrophic accident at this plant. We are writing today to demand a public explanation from the NRC as to how the commission could fail so drastically to fulfill its responsibility to our families, our communities and the citizens of this country to ensure the safety of San Onofre.

This critical problem with the emergency backup generators, and the astounding amount of time before the issue came to light, is but one example of the perfunctory oversight and pervasive lack of safety culture within the NRC and the nuclear industry.

The San Onofre nuclear reactors have been offline for four months due to the rupture of tubes in the recently replaced steam generators. Southern California Edison presented this as a like-for-like replacement, and the commission rubber-stamped the licensing. Had the NRC examined these replacement steam generators, it would have uncovered significant modifications of the original design that led to their failure and the release of radioactive steam less than two years after installation.

This lack of adequate oversight not only poses a threat to our communities but has come at a cost of $670.8 million. We, as ratepayers, have been forced to foot the bill for these critically flawed steam generators. Although Southern California Edison also shares in the responsibility to adequately maintain and evaluate the safety of the San Onofre plant, it is your responsibility to hold them accountable.

We are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency and disregard for safety on the part of Southern California Edison and that the NRC has failed in its responsibility to ensure the safety of San Onofre. We find it unacceptable that we have been living with this unknown threat for decades.

We look forward to your timely response to our concerns.

Gene Stone, Residents Organized for a Safe Environment
Donna Gilmore, SanOnofreSafety.org
Gary Headrick, San Clemente Green
 
Posted in Diesel Generators, Earthquake, NRC, Press Release, Southern California Edison | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

FERC Chairman: We’ll be in fine shape without San Onofre

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

http://www.energy.ca.gov/maps/powerplants/Power_Plants_Statewide.pdfFederal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff is confident San Diego County’s summer power needs can be addressed without the San Onofre nuclear plant.

The reactivation of non-nuclear generation plants and preparations to reduce peak power demands in the event of hot weather should ensure uninterrupted service if San Onofre remains offline, said FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff.

FERC regulates transmission and the wholesale electricity market, protecting the reliability of the high-voltage interstate grid.

“With the reports that I’ve read, I believe that there are adequate resources” for the summer, Wellinghoff said Monday after a speaking engagement in San Diego. “I think we’re going to be in fine shape.”

To compensate for the outage, utility companies and grid operators have reactivated two retired natural gas generators from the AES Huntington Beach plant. And state regulators have approved additional demand-response programs by Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric that reward consumers who cut consumption at the right time.

“There may be somewhat of a silver lining to this outage,” he said. “It can help us all better understand … the benefits from calling on those resources to be flexible.”

So-called demand-response programs that treat energy efficiency and conservation as a resource in its own right now offset roughly 10 percent of electricity demands in some areas of the eastern United States, Wellinghoff explained. Estimates by FERC say consumer response could eventually offset twice that share.

Those numbers could steer the future of nuclear power in states like California, which last week adopted the building standards for energy efficiency regarded as the most aggressive in the nation.

“You couple these things together and there certainly may be the opportunity to retire certain types of resources like nuclear facilities if the state were to chose to do so,” the FERC chairman said.

Posted in California Energy Commission, Energy Options, FERC - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, nuclear power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tell your senators: Keep San Onofre shut down

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

Please support this action from Friends of the Earth. They are working to help keep us safe from a nuclear disaster at San Onofre.

The San Onofre nuclear plant has been shut down for more than three months now due to damage to key equipment in both of its reactors.

The reactors’ operator, Southern California Edison, has yet to determine the extent of the damage, yet it recently announced plans to restart them as early as June, potentially endangering the millions of Californians living within miles of the plant.

Edison needs permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restart the reactors, and it is doing everything in its power to get that approval.

Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are tracking the problems at San Onofre — and they have the power to influence the NRC’s decision. Over the past month, Friends of the Earth activists in California have sent 2,557 messages to each senator urging action. Just last week, Senator Boxer sent a tough letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calling on the agency to release information on the problems that led to the reactors’ malfunction.

Your voices are making a difference, and Senators Boxer and Feinstein need to keep hearing from Californians. Click here to thank Sen. Boxer for taking action, and to urge both senators to keep on the case of the NRC. Public safety and the environment must take priority above Edison’s profits.

Edison wants to restart the reactors in a matter of weeks — before it has fully identified the problems and figured out whether or not they can actually be solved. If the company is allowed to move forward, Californians could be facing a radioactive crisis.

Senator Boxer heads the committee that oversees the NRC and Senator Feinstein controls the NRC’s purse strings. They can demand disclosure of information, hold hearings to probe the problem at the reactors and pressure the NRC to keep them shut down.

Senators Boxer and Feinstein need to hear from you that you expect them to look out for Californians’ safety. Demand that the San Onofre reactors remain shut down — send your message to Senators Boxer and Feinstein today. 

For a clean and safe energy future,
 
Damon Moglen
Climate and energy project director, Friends of the Earth

Posted in Action Alert, Events, Friends of the Earth, Senator Barbara Boxer, Southern California Edison | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

2012-05-23 4 pm – Rally and Press Conference at SCE in Irvine

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

Rally and Press Conference by ROSE & San Clemente Green on May 23 2012, 4 to 6 pm in Irvine at 14555 Bake St. which is between Cromwell and Trabuco Road to delivery our letters of concern to Southern California Edison (SCE). This action is being taken in San Francisco (PG&E) and San Diego (Sempra) as well as Irvine (SCE) . There is free guest parking right in front of the employee parking lot on the Bake side of the street. San Clemente Green & ROSE will both have letters to SCE.

THE LETTER FROM ROSE:

To: Chief Executive Officer Southern California Edison
Senator Barbara Boxer
Governor Jerry Brown
Orange County Supervisors
CC to all Mayors in Orange County,

Citizens and environmental groups are very concerned that SCE will consider gambling with safety of our communities and children to restart the crippled San Onofre nuclear power plant without understanding fully and repairing completely the damaged steam generators. We do not think turning this plant on until it starts to vibrate and then turning it down to 50% or 75% is anything but a dangerous experiment, and should not be attempted under those circumstances. KEEP SAN ONOFRE SHUTDOWN & START THE DECOMMISSIONING PROCESS.

Southern California Edison announced today (May 23) they plan to give Senator Boxer documentation about their re-design of steam generators at San Onofre that was given to the NRC. We demand that this information be given to the public and all the city councils in Orange and San Diego counties as well, so that the public and be as informed as possible.

The citizens and environmental groups of Orange County are very concerned that the California Edison’s energy conservation program appears to have almost $600,000,000 left unspent with only six months to go to the end of this program. With San Onofre nuclear power plant closed the question to be answered is why this money has not been spent on real and effective conservation programs? No one denies that SCE has a number of small conservation programs in place, which unfortunately go widely unused by the county’s residents. We believe it is high time that SCE coordinated with local city governments and environmental groups and other citizens groups to place into action some real hardcore & effective conservation programs to help lower peak demand during the summer season for electricity use. Is it your intention to squander away these funds on consulting fees instead of actual materials & programs that would improve electric efficiency for our residents? We do not want to see this money wasted away.

This new working group city by city could come up with ideas that would be effective for all involved pertinent to their communities. Just one example of a program that could affect peak electric use during the summer months could be a efficiency conditioner replacement rebate plan. As we all know during summer months the replacement of old inefficient air conditioners would be a real way to achieve electrical conservation during the peak season to mitigate any fears of rolling brownouts.

Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE) is just one of the local environmental groups who are willing to help if such a program would be established.

Sincerely,
Gene Stone
Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE)

949-233-7724

Posted in Action Alert, Events, Southern California Edison | Leave a comment

Bad Vibrations: San Onofre steam generators cannot safely be repaired – new Fairewinds video and report

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Donna Gilmore
Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds, explains why San Onofre’s four defective replacement steam generators cannot safely be repaired, as he demonstrates what happened inside the generators.

Steam generator tube vibrations caused extensive damage due to design changes between the original and replacement generators. See new Fairewinds detailed report San Onofre’s Steam Generator Failures Could Have Been Prevented. See also original version of the report prepared for Friends of the Earth.

Typical Combustion Engineering Steam Generator

Typical Combustion Engineering Steam Generator. Select image to enlarge.

Impact of design changes:

  • The tubes are now “at risk of bursting in a main steam accident and spewing radioactivity into the air”.
  • The top of the new steam generator is now “starved of water therefore making tube vibration inevitable”.

Significant design changes include:

  • The original design had a unique tube support to prevent vibration – these supports were changed in the new design.
  • The main structural stay cylinder was removed.
  • 400 additional tubes were packed into an already tightly packed design.

Plugging tubes and operating at lower power (as Southern California Edison suggests) are not viable solutions:

    • Vibration is the result not the root cause of the steam generators problems at San Onofre.
    • Plugging tubes cannot repair design changes that cause the tubes to collide with each other.
    • Reducing power does not provide a remedy for the underlying structural problems that are creating the vibration that has damaged and will continue to damage the tubes.
    • Reducing power will not change the pressure inside or outside the tubes – previously damaged tubes will continue to vibrate, damaging surrounding tubes and tube supports and worsen the existing damage.
    • Lower power might create a resonate frequency at which vibration might increase without notice.
    • Historical evidence at other reactors has shown that operating at lower power has not been an effective solution.

Also, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission just released a copy of Southern California Edison’s June 7, 2006 slide presentation – San Onofre Steam Generator Replacement Project Overview.  It shows some of the design changes to the generators.

One of San Onofre’s Unit 3 steam generators leaked radiation into the air after being installed less than a year. The other three replacement steam generators are showing unprecedented premature wear. San Onofre has been shut down since January 31, 2012.

No blackouts have occurred from the shutdown and California’s electricity grid operator stated it is unlikely there will be blackouts during peak summer months. California’s other nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, was also shut down recently.  California experienced no blackouts with both nuclear plants shut down.

San Onofre, located in San Diego county, is only a few miles from San Clemente, California. See Steam Generator Section for more information on the steam generator issues.

Posted in Energy Options, Friends of the Earth, NRC, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments