Troubled Nuclear Reactor in California Could Be Back Online in June
As Japan shut down its last operating nuclear reactor this weekend, Edison International, owner of California’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, announced plans to bring their troubled plant back online in June.
With the peak-use summer season just around the corner, troubles continue to plague California’s two nuclear power plants. On April 18th, a small electrical fire of unknown origin broke out at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Clemente, which remains shut down since January due to faulty tubes in its steam generators and a radiation leak. Then, on April 26th, California’s other nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo, was knocked offline by an unusual invasion of jellyfish-like sea creatures known as salp, which clogged intake vents at the plant. Although the Diablo Canyon plant was able to re-open on May 1st, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials have stated all along that San Onofre will remain shut down until safety issues are addressed. San Onofre and Diablo Canyon together supply about 14 percent of California’s electricity.
The announcement by Edison International to restart San Onofre in June is in contrast to previous announcements by both plant operators and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must sign off on the restart-up. Edison says it will submit its plans for restart-up by mid-May to the NRC, and hopes to have its Unit 2 reactor back online by June 1 and Unit 3 reactor back by June 12. Those dates could change depending on final plans and NRC approval.
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station consists of three units which each contain tens of thousands of alloy tubes that carry radioactive water in the plant’s steam generators. The tubes are critical to safety. When one of the tubes breaks or is ruptured, radioactivity can be released into the atmosphere or radioactive water can escape into surrounding areas, including the Pacific Ocean. Troubles at San Onofre began in January when a steam tube in Unit 3 ruptured, releasing radioactive steam. Officials originally said there was no danger from the leak; however, upon investigation they discovered that there was “unusual and excessive” wear on hundreds of tubes in not only Unit 3, but also Unit 2. Unit 3 was shut down immediately, and Unit 2, which had been taken off-line earlier in January for maintenance and refueling, was also then shut down. Unit 1 has been permanently shut down since 1992, and is used as a spent-fuel repository.
Edison believes it has figured out the cause of the rapid tube wear at both units, and says it appears to be related to the amount of steam flowing through the pipes, which causes vibration and rubbing. “The higher the power, the greater the flow and the more likely the tubes are to vibrate,” says Stephen Pickett, Executive Vice President with Southern California Edison. Hundreds of tubes in the plant’s reactors showed excessive wear, which was highly unusual considering the pipes had been recently installed in 2009 and 2010. Edison is planning to “plug” the defective pieces of equipment and run the reactors at 50 to 80 percent capacity over the summer according to Pickett.
Activists and many community leaders and members are seeking a permanent shut down of the nuclear plant. “When your nuclear reactor is springing leaks and radioactive pipes are deteriorating 20 times faster than they should, it’s a big deal, and no amount of nuclear spin by Edison or the NRC can hide that fact,” says Shaun Bernie, a nuclear specialist to Friends of the Earth.
Although Edison officials say they have solved the mystery involving the vibration-and-wear tube problems in San Onofre’s reactors, it is interesting to note that plant officials also announced recently that they will begin working with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to conduct seismic studies around the San Onofre plant. Scripps professor Neal Driscoll said that the study will be the first in approximately 20 to 30 years to assemble this type of data, and will look at known offshore faults as well as search for other potential faults in the area.
Both the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon power plants were constructed in seismic hazard zones along the coast. San Onofre is located less than one mile from a major tectonic fault known as the Cristianitos Fault, which is considered “inactive.” The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is located near four faults, including the very active San Andreas and Hosgri faults. The NRC says that nuclear power plants built in earthquake zones, like California’s coast, have a surprisingly low risk of damage, and that the “odds” are in the public’s favor. Those odds haven’t won over activists, however, who are concerned about the effects a major earthquake might have on the nuclear plants, and believe California is overdue for such a catastrophic quake. They have asked for the evacuation zone around San Onofre to be increased from 10 miles to 50 miles. Officials at the San Onofre plant, however, say their plant is designed to withstand a magnitude 7.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami of up to 8 feet. The Diablo Canyon plant, which was originally built to withstand a 6.75-magnitude earthquake, has been retrofitted recently to withstand a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, and a seismic study is currently ongoing there.
Considering San Onofre has the worst safety record of all the nuclear reactors in America, it’s hoped that the NRC will make certain all safety issues have been addressed completely before San Onofre is allowed to restart-up. And with both San Onofre and Diablo Canyon sitting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, no one wants to find out just how bad it could be if those safety issues haven’t been dealt with adequately.
Barb Adams is the host of Amerika Now talk radio show, which airs on GCN Saturdays 8 pm-11:00pm Pacific Time. Listen to the show On Demand.
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