Senator Calls for Justice Investigation of SCE on San Onofre Renovation

Greentech Media | By Herman K. Trabish | Link to article

Faced with no nuclear power, the state’s system operator is making alternate plans and issuing warnings.

Letters suggesting that the San Onofre nuclear plant operator purposely misrepresented renovations at the facility to regulators means the plant will likely not be back on-line in time to help with summer’s peak power demand.

The 2,200-megawatt San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), which is 78 percent owned and entirely operated by Southern California Edison, was taken offline in January 2012 after a radioactive steam leak. It was later determined the leak was due to steam generator tube wear and tear caused by inadequately performed renovations in 2009 and 2010.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate two letters written by now-retired SCE Vice-President Dwight E. Nunn to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the manufacturer and installer of the replacement steam generators that caused the facility’s shutdown.

(complete article)