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81-654: The plant is owned by Southern California Edison (SCE). Edison International , parent of SCE, holds 78.2% ownership in the plant; San Diego Gas & Electric , 20%; and the City of Riverside Utilities Department , 1.8%. When fully functional, it employed over 2,200 people. Located between the Pacific Ocean and the Surf Line , the station is a prominent landmark because of its twin hemispherical containment buildings , which were designed to contain any fission products in

162-486: A renewables mix of 23%. By 2016, 28.2% of SCE's power sources were renewable. In 2017, the company opened two new hybrid electric gas turbine (EGT) units called peaker plants, that combine gas turbines and storage batteries at the same site. Each plant delivers around 50-megawatts; the batteries can provide 10-megawatts and four megawatt-hours of power. Both the turbines and the batteries are designed and manufactured by General Electric’s Power Division . The plant runs

243-698: A shooting occurred when an employee of Southern California Edison opened fire at an office building in Irwindale . Southern California Edison allows its customer to obtain their electricity entirely from renewable sources by subscribing to a "green rate". In 2006, Southern California Edison planned to secure 1,500 megawatts or more of power generated from new projects to be built in the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm area. The contract, which more than doubles SCE's wind energy portfolio, envisions more than 50 square miles (130 km ) of wind parks in

324-615: A 420-ton nuclear-reactor vessel backwards" at San Onofre. In 2008, the San Onofre plant received multiple citations over issues such as failed emergency generators, improperly wired batteries and falsified fire safety data. In its annual review of 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) identified improvements but noted that in the area of human performance, "corrective actions to date have not resulted in sustained and measurable improvement". According to

405-538: A Proposed Decommissioning Plan to place SONGS-1 in SAFSTOR until the shutdown of Units 2 and 3. On December 15, 1998, following a change in NRC decommissioning regulations, SCE submitted a post shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) for SONGS-1, to commence DECON in 2000. SCE actively decommissioned the facility, and most of the structures and equipment have been removed and sent to a disposal facility. The NRC issued

486-553: A commercial vitrification system. In 1997, GTS Duratek acquired the Scientific Ecology Group (SEG). In 2000, the company purchased the nuclear services business arm of Waste Management Inc. One year later, the company announced that it was dropping GTS from its name, and was once again known as Duratek . Duratek was purchased by EnergySolutions at a 25.7% premium over the February 7, 2006 stock price when

567-472: A contract with Solar Millennium to purchase solar thermal power up to 726 MW. Southern California Edison also entered into a contract with Stirling Energy Systems to buy electricity from a 500 megawatt, 4,600 acre (19 km ), solar power plant which was due to open in 2009. The purchase was canceled in late 2010, as changes in technology reduced the cost of photovoltaic-based solar power to below that of solar Stirling generated power. This would have been

648-619: A disposal site in Barnwell County, South Carolina . The company possesses the technology to convert waste into alternative material such as durable glass and is contracted by the United States Department of Energy to assist in waste conversion efforts. The company held the naming rights to the Utah Jazz home EnergySolutions Arena (Now Delta Center ) from November 20, 2006, until October 26, 2015, when Vivint ,

729-752: A home security system provider based in Provo, Utah , acquired the naming rights. In June 2007 the company took over operation and management of several Magnox atomic plants from British Nuclear Fuels plc in the United Kingdom through the acquisition of the BNFL subsidiary – Reactor Sites Management Company (RMSC). Envirocare of Utah purchased the Connecticut -based Scientech D&D division in October 2005. On February 2, 2006, Envirocare announced

810-465: A joint venture of AECOM and EnergySolutions as decommissioning general contractor for SONGS. Since the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository plan was terminated in 2008, nuclear waste will have to be stored on site in San Onofre until Congress finds another location for a nuclear waste repository. SONG's nuclear waste is in steel-lined concrete pools known as wet storage. According to

891-552: A license amendment in February 2010 releasing the off-shore portions of the Unit 1 cooling intake and outlet pipes in place, under the Pacific Ocean seabed, for unrestricted use. The fuel from Unit 1 was transferred to Phase 1 of the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). In 2015, the ISFSI was expanded onto the area previously occupied by Unit 1 in order to store all Unit 2 and Unit 3 spent fuel. SCE completed transferring all of

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972-544: A number of resources and a rate designed specifically for electric vehicle users. As of July 2018, Southern California Edison planned to add thousands of new charging stations for passenger electric vehicles (EV). This addition is a component of the company's "Charge Ready" program, a pilot program with the aim of increasing the availability of charging ports for EVs. Since 2016, Southern California Edison has installed 1,000 charging stations throughout their Southern and Central California service area. The company also runs

1053-464: A rebate program for electric vehicle purchases. Southern California Edison has a long history of research in the energy arena. Often this includes working with other companies and government entities. One example is the SOLARII feasibility generator, which was a solar-powered energy plant that could produce electricity 24 hours a day. This was done by heating molten salts that would hold the heat during

1134-448: A service territory of approximately 50,000 square miles. SCE owns all of its electrical transmission facilities and equipment. Deregulation of California's electricity market in the late 1990s forced the company to sell many of its power plants, though some were probably sold by choice. SCE retained its hydroelectric plants, totaling about 1,200 MW, and its 75% share of the 2,150-MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station . The plant

1215-485: A ten-year project completed in 2011 and costing $ 671 million, Edison replaced the steam generators in both reactors with Mitsubishi steam generators of the modified design. Because of the reactors' two-loop design, uncommon for such large reactors of that era, the steam generators were among the largest in the industry. A common shortcoming of these large steam generators was tube wear, requiring replacement earlier than their 40-year design life. The steam generators being

1296-538: A year". The company stated, "Full retirement of the units prior to decommissioning will take some years in accordance with customary practices. Actual decommissioning will take many years until completion." Controversy continues over Edison's plans for on-site dry cask storage of the considerable amount of nuclear waste created during the facility's decades of operation. Unit 1, a first-generation Westinghouse pressurized water reactor that operated for 25 years, closed permanently in 1992; it has been dismantled and

1377-635: Is 45 miles south of the facility, and Los Angeles is 60 miles north of the facility. On August 6, 1977, about a thousand anti-nuclear protesters marched outside the nuclear generation station, while units 2 & 3 were under construction. On March 11, 2012, more than 200 activists protested at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to mark the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . Two Japanese residents who lived through

1458-630: Is approximately 100 km (60 mi) south of Los Angeles, 6.5 km (4 mi) south of San Clemente, CA. It is located between the Surf Railroad Line and the Pacific Ocean within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton . The site originally comprised three nuclear power plants. Unit 1 commenced operation in 1968, and shut down in 1992. Units 2 and 3 permanently ceased operations in June 2013. Dismantlement of Unit 1

1539-445: Is being decommissioned. In addition to its electric business, SCE operates the sole gas utility and water utility on Santa Catalina Island , under the names Catalina Island Gas Company and Catalina Island Water Company. The origins of the company lie with the grand scheme of business magnate Henry E. Huntington and hydraulic engineer John S. Eastwood , developed around 1908, for a vast complex of reservoirs to be constructed in

1620-446: Is essentially complete. The turbine building was removed and the licensee completed reactor pressure vessel internal segmentation and cutup; however, the licensee was unable to make arrangements for shipping the reactor pressure vessel to a disposal facility because of the size and weight of the vessel and shipping package. The licensee is making plans to ship the vessel offsite during the decommissioning activities for Units 2 and 3 because

1701-606: Is linked to other California ISO resources by the Path 26 transmission lines that generally follow Interstate 5 over Tejon Pass . The interconnection takes place at a large substation at Buttonwillow . CAISO's and WAPA 's Path 15 and Path 66 , respectively, from Buttonwillow north eventually connect to BPA 's grid in the Pacific Northwest . There are several other interconnections with local and out-of-state utilities, such as Path 46 . Southern California Edison has

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1782-403: Is no way to repair them. As an added safety measure, Holtec is providing an extra canister on site. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will be using new technologies in order to detect and protect these canisters from cracking. EPRI believes the best method for chloride-induced stress-corrosion cracking is to apply proactive practices, which include using standard methods to classify

1863-613: Is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 2007 when Envirocare acquired three other nuclear waste disposal companies: Scientech D&D , BNG America , and Duratek . EnergySolutions has operations in over 40 states, with a licensed landfill to dispose of radioactive waste approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Salt Lake City in Tooele County, Utah . It also operates

1944-412: Is the seller. The deal includes EnergySolutions’ North American government, Europe, and Asia businesses, and about 650 employees. EnergySolutions will retain its logistics, processing, and disposal (“LP&D”) business, its reactor decommissioning business, including current projects at Zion, Illinois and La Crosse, Wisconsin , and its North American utility services. Most of the radioactive waste from

2025-444: Is used as a storage site for spent fuel. It had a spherical containment of concrete and steel; the smallest wall was 6 feet (1.8 m) thick. It generated 456  MWe gross, and 436 MWe net, when operating at 100% capacity. Units 2 and 3, Combustion Engineering two-loop pressurized water reactors , generated 1,127  MWe gross, and 1,070 MWe and 1,080 MWe net respectively, when operating at 100% capacity. In

2106-816: The California Air Resources Board , which per the World Nuclear News is partly due to the early closure of San Onofre. Decommissioning San Onofre will take numerous years until the process is complete. In February 2014 SCE announced that it would be auctioning off non-radioactive equipment from the former nuclear plant March 2015. In August 2014, SCE announced decommissioning would take 20 years, cost $ 4.4 billion and spent fuel would be held on-site in dry casks indefinitely, while Low Level Radioactive Waste would be disposed in Texas and Utah. On December 20, 2016, SCE announced it had selected

2187-750: The Sierra Nevada Mountains of central California. Huntington founded Pacific Light and Power, one of the roughly two dozen companies he controlled at the time, to execute what would eventually become one of the largest hydropower systems in the United States, the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project . Pacific Light and Power was one of the predecessor companies to SCE, along with Edison Electric, Mt. Whitney Power & Electric Co., California Electric Power Co., Southern California Power Co., and others. In 2011,

2268-606: The United States Justice Department investigate possible malfeasance by Edison officials, and released a 2004 letter by an Edison executive that expressed worries that the new steam generators, though similar, would not be "like for like" replacements and could lead to the same kind of potential "disastrous" issues that in fact led to the plant's shutdown in 2012. In making the request for a possible criminal investigation, Boxer stated "This correspondence leads me to believe that Edison intentionally misled

2349-575: The active fault 5 miles offshore. The closest tectonic fault line is the Christianitos fault, less than a mile away, which is considered inactive or "dead", but other active faults in the vicinity might pose some threat. The NRC's estimate of the yearly risk of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at San Onofre was 1 in 58,824, according to a study it had published in August 2010. In June 2012 S. David Freeman ,

2430-409: The radioactivity to 1000 counts. The kittens were taken for further screening, where they were found to have been contaminated with Cesium-137 , Cesium-134 , and Cobalt-60 . The radioactive activity within the kittens began sharply decreasing, and the kittens were declared to be in healthy condition. In trying to find the kittens' mother, the workers learned of the animal control officer's incident

2511-568: The $ 90 million purchase of BNG America, a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) based in Virginia . Envirocare of Utah was renamed EnergySolutions, with corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah . On February 7, 2006, EnergySolutions announced it would buy Maryland -based Duratek, a publicly traded company , for $ 396 million in an all-cash deal. The leveraged buyout was financed by banks led by Citigroup , effectively taking

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-487: The Fukushima meltdowns and congressman Raymond Lutz , spoke. They said the generators which had been offline since January 2012, should remain off. In May 2012, environmental and anti-nuclear activists gathered at Southern California Edison's Irvine headquarters calling for the San Onofre plant to be decommissioned. On January 31, 1996, an adult cat was discovered outside of Unit 1 by an animal control officer . Since it

2673-623: The NRC commissioners. Friends of the Earth submitted evidence and sworn statements of John Large of the London-based nuclear consulting engineers Large & Associates, demonstrating that the steam generating tube degradation was a generic fault of the Mitsubishi design and that Edison's power derating of the two nuclear units would not lower the rate of wear or the risk of catastrophic tube failure. SCE and NRC staff filed statements opposing

2754-440: The NRC, nuclear waste must sit in these pools for about 5 years in order to cool. It then must be transferred into a more permanent, dry storage, consisting of 80 underground steel lined concrete monoliths. SCE decided on Holtec International to design the dry storage canisters. The canisters will be 5 ⁄ 8 inch (16 mm) thick compared to the 1 ⁄ 2 inch (13 mm) thickness used for most other canisters in

2835-412: The NRC, workers at San Onofre were "afraid they will be retaliated against if they bring up safety problems, something that's against the rules". As of 2011, according to the NRC, there had been progress on the issue and the problems were not considered a threat to the safety of plant workers or the public. In November 2011, there was an ammonia leak, and as a precaution company employees were evacuated from

2916-566: The Tehachapi region, which is triple the size of any existing U.S. wind farm. In March 2008, Southern California Edison announced a $ 875 million project to build a network of 250 megawatts of photovoltaic solar power generation, making it the biggest solar cell project in the nation. The photovoltaic cells will cover 65,000,000 square feet (6,000,000 m ) of rooftops in southern California and will generate enough power to serve 162,000 homes. In 2009, Southern California Edison entered into

2997-740: The UK on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Through the acquisition, the company took over operational and management responsibilities of several Magnox atomic plants from British Nuclear Fuels plc. In 2009 it attempted to bring 20,000 tons of waste from Italy's shuttered nuclear power program through the ports of either Charleston, South Carolina, or New Orleans. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in Utah. The importation attempt

3078-553: The US. These steel-lined concrete monoliths right next to the Pacific Ocean exceed California's earthquake requirements and Edison says they are designed to withstand fire and tsunamis. The canisters are prone to cracking mainly because of chloride-induced stress corrosion from being close to the ocean. The canisters cannot be inspected for cracks. Kris Singh, president and CEO of Holtec, says that they are working on developing inspection methods, but that even if cracks could be detected, there

3159-402: The battery first in a series of short bursts, saving gas usage for longer power demand. The combination of a 30-minute duration battery improves the environmental impact of the gas turbine. The SCE setup (the first of its kind) cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60%, reduced annual water usage by 2 million gallons and lowered the number of gas starts by 50%. Southern California Edison's power grid

3240-452: The causes of the tube leak and tube degradation were understood. Neither unit was ever restarted. There were no blackouts due to the lack of SONGS electricity; more pollution was caused by the use of natural gas plants to make up for the lost power generation, and additional cost led to higher utility bills. In March 2012, the NRC forbade the plant to be reopened until the causes of its equipment problems were thoroughly understood and fixed. At

3321-480: The changes made in the replacement steam generator including the removal of a support cylinder, changes to the tube support plates and anti-vibration bars, and addition of about 400 tubes. In December 2013, the NRC cited SONGS for failing to properly check the steam generator design, which had caused the plant shutdown. The finding did not carry any fine or penalty but complicated SCE's legal position that they did nothing wrong. The California Public Utilities Commission

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-554: The company private. After the acquisitions, EnergySolutions had 2,500 employees in 40 states with an annual revenue of $ 280 million. EnergySolutions owns two of the nation's four commercial low-level nuclear-waste repositories, its primary competitor, Waste Control Specialists , built a fourth repository in Texas. Envirocare of Utah, Inc. (Envirocare) buried Class A low level radioactive waste (LLRW) in an engineered landfill . It began operations in 1990 in Clive, Utah . Envirocare

3483-594: The company said that the downsizing had been planned more than two years before. Rochelle Becker of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility said the layoffs showed that the company was not honest about their plans for the power plant. In September 2012, Allison Macfarlane , the NRC Chairwoman, said that the plant would be down for a prolonged period, and that Unit 3 would be defueled in September 2012 because

3564-475: The company, which was poised to ban the waste. Envirocare subsequently made the acquisitions and became EnergySolutions. Based in Columbia, Maryland , Duratek was founded in 1983. In 1990, the company merged with General Technical Services (GTS); the resulting company was known as GTS Duratek . That year, the company formed a joint venture with another firm — Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. — to build

3645-445: The corrosivity of the site environment, monitoring the site-specific absolute humidity, and planning for visual inspection of the canister surface in a timeframe based on the results. Southern California Edison Southern California Edison ( SCE ), the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electric utility company for much of Southern California . It provides 15 million people with electricity across

3726-424: The cost of the outage was over $ 300 million, and discussion of restarting Unit 2 had been postponed. In December 2012, the last of the four old steam generators was transported to Clive, Utah for disposal. In February 2013, the NRC asked the steam generator manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to provide a redacted version of a report on the plant's steam generators for publication. The report described

3807-401: The current licenses expire in 2022, and with post- Fukushima requirements, which include re-evaluating earthquake vulnerability, it was uncertain renewal would be economic, so it made little sense making costly and politically difficult repairs now that would not make a return on investment before 2022. California Senator Dianne Feinstein signaled approval of the decision to permanently close

3888-481: The day and would be used to generate power at night. Dr. John Jurewitz served as Director of Regulatory Policy for Southern California Edison for 15 years until his retirement in July 2007. His major areas of research are in oil, gas, and electricity policy and greenhouse gas regulation. He has testified and participated in government-sponsored proceedings addressing electric industry restructuring and energy policy at

3969-507: The day prior. The officer was frisked for contamination. No contamination was found on the officer, but there were trace amounts of radioactive isotopes on a rag the officer used to dry the mother and on feces excreted within its cage. As the search continued, the remains of the cat were found on Interstate 5 . Health physics personnel analyzed the remains, finding identical activity as the kittens. The kittens were adopted by plant workers, having been named Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Neutron. Unit 2

4050-514: The event of an incident. The plant's first unit, Unit 1, operated from 1968 to 1992. Unit 2 was started in 1983 and Unit 3 started in 1984. Upgrades designed to last 20 years were made to the reactor units in 2009 and 2010; however, both reactors were shut down in January 2012 after premature wear was found on more than 3,000 tubes in replacement steam generators that had been installed in 2010 and 2011. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigated

4131-726: The events that led to the closure. In May 2013, Senator Barbara Boxer , the then-chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee , said the modifications had proved to be "unsafe and posed a danger to the eight million people living within 50 miles of the plant," and she called for a criminal investigation. In June 2013, Southern California Edison announced the permanent retirement of Unit 2 and Unit 3, citing "continuing uncertainty about when or if SONGS might return to service" and noting that ongoing regulatory and "administrative processes and appeals" would likely cause any tentative restart plans to be delayed for "more than

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4212-586: The excessive wear had been in limited areas, due to higher speed and drier steam than computer modeling had predicted, and inadequate tube support at the U-bend. Analysis had concluded operating at 70% power would eliminate the conditions that caused excessive wear. In November 2012, the NRC decided to refer the Friends of the Earth hearing request to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board . By November 2012,

4293-790: The first commercial application of the dish stirling system . A different technology from the more familiar solar panel, the dish concentrates solar energy by the use of reflective surfaces and by the use of the Stirling heat engine to convert the heat into electricity. In 2014, Southern California Edison installed the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project , which is composed of more than 600,000 lithium-ion battery cells at Monolith Substation in Tehachapi, California in order to test storing power generated from an area that currently has 5,000 wind turbines. In 2014 SCE had

4374-605: The former head of the Southern California Public Power Authority and "a longtime anti-nuclear voice", described San Onofre and Diablo Canyon as "disasters waiting to happen: aging, unreliable reactors sitting near earthquake fault zones on the fragile Pacific Coast, with millions of Californians living nearby". The San Onofre plant used seawater for cooling, like some other seaside facilities in Southern California, lacking

4455-429: The generator to fail if needed. An internal investigation found "evidence of potential tampering", making sabotage by staff a possible cause. Southern California Edison stated after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 that the station was "built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake directly under the plant". Additionally, there was a 25-foot wall to protect the plant from a tsunami which could be potentially generated by

4536-729: The home of California utility regulator Michael Peevey and found hand written notes, which showed that Peevey had met with an Edison executive in Poland, where the two had negotiated the terms of the San Onofre settlement leaving San Diego taxpayers with a $ 3.3 billion bill to pay for the closure of the plant. The investigation was closed amid Harris's 2016 run for the US Senate position, which opened when Barbara Boxer retired. Total greenhouse gas emissions from power plants in California increased by 35% from 2011 to 2012, according to figures from

4617-763: The large cooling towers typically associated with nuclear generating stations. Limited available land next to SONGS would likely have required towers to be built on the opposite side of Interstate 5. More than 4,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel are stored at San Onofre. The NRC defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: 1) a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and 2) an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The average prevailing westerly wind direction at San Onofre blows inland 9 months of

4698-524: The largest components in the reactor required a temporary hole through the concrete containment shell. The Unit 2 replacement was completed in 2009 and Unit 3 in 2011. Edison estimated that the modernization would save customers $ 1 billion during the plant's license period, which at the time ran until 2022. During its operation until 2012, SONGS provided about 20% of the power to large portions of Southern California . The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), operated by Southern California Edison (SCE)

4779-430: The leak area, while the units continued normal operation. A mid-cycle inspection report spanning July 2011 to June 2012 revealed three incidents relating to human performance. An additional issue concerned a failure to develop procedures for a " cyber security analysis of electronic devices" that was later corrected. In 2012, coolant fluid was found in the oil system of a backup diesel generator, which would have caused

4860-450: The merger was announced. Since its inception, Energy Solutions has collected primarily domestic, Class A nuclear waste for its west Utah desert site. On June 7, 2007, the company announced the acquisition of the UK based BNFL subsidiary – Reactor Sites Management Company (RSMC). The sale included Magnox Electric Limited (MEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RSMC, which holds the contracts and licences to operate ten nuclear reactor sites in

4941-563: The nuclear fuel to dry storage in 2020. The Unit 1 Reactor Pressure Vessel was transported via rail and then highway to the Energy Solutions disposal facility in Clive, Utah. The shipment left May 24, 2020 from San Onofre and arrived at the disposal facility on July 14, 2020. The San Onofre station had technical problems over the years. In July 1982, Time wrote, "The firm Bechtel was ... embarrassed in 1977, when it installed

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5022-429: The petition. In July 2012, the NRC's final report identified ten issues that needed followup and stated "the plant will not be permitted to restart until the licensee has developed a plan to prevent further steam generator tube degradation and the NRC independently verifies that it can be operated safely." As of July 2012, the cost related to the shutdown had reached $ 165 million, with $ 117 million of that being

5103-521: The plant at a reduced capacity. The utility said it would cut the SONGS workforce from about 1,500 to some 400 employees, with most reductions "expected to occur in 2013". The company also said it would "pursue recovery of damages from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , the supplier of the replacement steam generators", although the contract limited liability to $ 138 million and excluded consequential damages. The chief executive of Edison International explained that

5184-458: The plant, stating "I firmly believe this is the right thing to do for the more than 7 million Californians who live within 50 miles of San Onofre." However, Representative Darrell Issa , whose voting district includes the nuclear station, was more downbeat, saying "our communities now face the loss of employment for more than a thousand highly skilled workers and an essential local source of low-cost, clean energy." Issa also pledged to work to improve

5265-411: The plant. The spokesman for Edison International said "the company will work to prepare detailed responses to council and community member questions and concerns". In June 2012 the environmental group Friends of the Earth filed a legal petition with the NRC, asking that any decision to restart SONGS be considered a de facto NRC license amendment which required a public hearing, rather than a decision by

5346-577: The prospects for nuclear power nationwide. In contrast, Sierra Club Director Kathryn Phillips applauded the move, saying in a statement that "We hope, especially, that the utilities will take this opportunity to help get more locally generated renewable energy, such as rooftop solar, into their portfolios." In 2015, State Attorney General Kamala Harris opened an investigation of the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison. California state investigators searched

5427-444: The public and regulators in order to avoid a full safety review and public hearing in connection with its redesign of the plant." Edison denied any wrongdoing. but reportedly signaled it might shut the plant down for good should the company not be allowed to restart one of the reactors at 70% of capacity. On June 7, 2013, Southern California Edison announced it would "permanently retire" Unit 2 and Unit 3, ending their attempt to restart

5508-411: The purchasing of power from other sources to replace the output of the plant. The Chairman of Edison International Ted Craver stated the possibility that reactor 3 might be scrapped as "It is not clear at this time whether Unit 3 will be able to restart without extensive additional repairs". In August 2012, Southern California Edison announced plans to lay off one-third, or 730, of the plants employees;

5589-565: The radioactivity has decayed to a level that allows it to be treated as low level waste. SONGS-1 was a Westinghouse 3-loop pressurized water reactor constructed by Bechtel and rated at 1347 MWthermal . It began commercial operation on January 1, 1968, and ceased operation on November 30, 1992. Defueling was completed on March 6, 1993. On December 28, 1993, NRC approved the Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications. On November 3, 1994, SCE submitted

5670-422: The radiologically controlled area but tripped contamination alarms when the workers of the plant attempted to set the kittens free. Health physics personnel responded to the scene and frisked the kittens for radioactive contamination . None of the workers handling the kittens were contaminated, however, the kittens each measured 6000 counts per minute . The kittens were given warm baths with shampoo, which reduced

5751-462: The same time, Irvine Councilman Larry Agran called for the plant to be decommissioned safely and as soon as possible. Concerns included "nuclear waste stored at the plant, health hazards from radioactive material, and inadequate evacuation plans". Resolutions passed in neighboring cities Laguna Beach and San Clemente called for safer and more secure nuclear waste storage . San Clemente voted to request public information about radiation levels near

5832-534: The second state in the US to allow the importation of Class B and C radioactive wastes. On November 15, 2015, EnergySolutions announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase Waste Control Specialists for $ 270 million in cash and $ 20 million in stock. This sale was blocked by the DOJ for breaching anti-trust law. In November 2015, EnergySolutions sold its Projects, Products and Technology division to WS Atkins plc for $ 318 million. Energy Capital Partners

5913-472: The state, federal, and international levels. In November, 2014, SCE announced a partnership with Ice Energy to provide more efficient energy storage by freezing water at night when electricity is cheaper. (Ice Energy filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December 2019.) In 2015, Southern California Edison laid off about 400 IT employees, with an additional 100 IT workers leaving voluntarily. Meanwhile,

5994-453: The unit had been significantly damaged. Due to the shutdown, the NRC ended requirements to monitor non-operating systems. In October 2012, SCE submitted a "Unit 2 Return to Service Report" about corrective actions, such as plugging worn tubes and preventively plugged additional tubes. It proposed a restart limiting Unit 2 to 70% power, to prevent excessive tube vibration, until an inspection within 150 days of operation. SCE reported that most of

6075-580: The utility company hired immigrants from India through Infosys , based in Bangalore , and Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai , which are among the largest users of H-1B visas . SCE was subsequently investigated by the US Department of Labor for potential H1-B visa abuse. EnergySolutions EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy Solutions ), headquartered in Salt Lake City , Utah ,

6156-592: The year. The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of San Onofre was 92,687, an increase of 50.0 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 8,460,508, an increase of 14.9 percent since 2000. Three of the cities within 20 miles of the facility are San Clemente and Laguna Beach in Orange County and Oceanside in San Diego County. San Diego

6237-440: Was considering whether to order a multimillion-dollar refund to SCE customers. On May 13, 2013, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued its decision on the Friends of the Earth hearing request filed in June 2012. It determined the current NRC process on this issue constituted a de facto license amendment requiring an adjudicatory public hearing, for three independent reasons: In May 2013, Senator Barbara Boxer asked that

6318-814: Was eventually abandoned. EnergySolutions sought permission in 2011 from the State of Utah for its "Semprasafe" process to blend, or dilute, the currently allowed Class A low-level radioactive waste with more radioactive Class B and Class C wastes until it just meets the Class A waste levels its license allows per container at its Clive disposal site. Some estimates projected that this could increase Energy Solutions' Utah site total of 7,450 curies of radiation per annum (2010), to an additional 19,184 to 28,470 curies each year. The Division of Radiation Control of Utah considered, but rejected blending to allow Class B and Class C waste into Utah. This would have made Utah, after Texas,

6399-743: Was founded by Iranian immigrant Khosrow Semnani in 1988. Semnani served as president of the company until May 1997, when Envirocare's largest customer—the Department of Energy —requested that he step down in the wake of a bribery scandal. In mid-December 2004, Semnani sold Envirocare for an undisclosed sum. Steve Creamer became the company's new CEO. The deal was financed by private equity firms, led by Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer of New York, Creamer Investments, and Peterson Partners both of Salt Lake City. Envirocare management promised to drop its plans to bury hotter class B and C nuclear waste in Utah in deference to growing political opposition to

6480-502: Was shut down in early January 2012 for routine refueling and replacement of the reactor vessel head . On January 31, 2012, Unit 3 suffered a radioactive leak largely inside the containment shell, with a release to the environment below allowable limits, and the reactor was shut down per standard procedure. On investigation, the replacement steam generators from 2011 in both units were found to show premature wear on over 3,000 tubes, in 15,000 places. Plant officials pledged not to restart until

6561-412: Was wet from rain and seemed abnormally listless , the officer kept the cat overnight in a cage in his garage. The officer released the cat near the plant on the next day, having observed that it returned to normal levels of alertness. On February 1, 1996, four kittens were found at the plant in a small space between two of Unit 1's administration buildings by plant workers. They were discovered outside of

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