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A panel of experts within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled plans that could allow a reactor at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to run under reduced power amount to a license amendment requiring a potentially lengthy hearing process that could delay the restart planned for this summer...

Southern California Edison is moving quickly in its effort to modify a license at its San Onofre nuclear plant and restart unit 2 at reduced power before the high-demand summer season. On Monday, Edison announced it had filed a draft license amendment request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after...

Aiming to restart unit 2 at its San Onofre nuclear plant this summer, Southern California Edison has floated the idea of amending its license to operate at 70 percent power while a lengthy review of restarting at full power runs its course. Prematurely thinning steam generator tubes have kept both reactors...

On Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made public a redacted version of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' root cause analysis on prematurely thinning tubes within steam generators at the San Onofre nuclear plant. The report can be downloaded here. It offers a detailed technical breakdown of the...

A recent earnings report offered an updated tally of the costs at Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear plant, where two reactors have spent a year offline because of steam generator problems. According to a presentation by Edison International, at the end of last year it had incurred ...

California's attorney general has announced that the man who led a successful drive to shut down the Rancho Seco nuclear plant in 1989 can begin gathering signatures for an initiative that would close all of the state's power reactors. On Thursday, the attorney general's office announced...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has convened a panel of technical experts to evaluate Southern California Edison's proposal to restart a reactor at its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Both units at the plant were kept out of service a year ago following the discovery of premature steam generator...

Engine coolant wound up in the oil system of a diesel generator at San Onofre unit 3, and Southern California Edison believes someone might have tampered with it. Both units at the plant are offline following the discovery of premature tube wear in their steam generators, and the emergency diesel in...

Southern California Edison made the case to federal regulators Thursday that it can safely operate San Onofre unit 2 at reduced power after addressing premature steam generator tube wear that has kept the nuclear plant offline since the beginning of the year. Its restart plan would involve enhanced monitoring...

Southern California Edison (SCE) has determined that San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) staffing and costs are significantly higher than other similar dual unit, non-fleet nuclear power plants. Indicators also show there are opportunities to reduce operating and maintenance costs by improving...

In projections for state power regulators, Southern California Edison recently suggested reactors at the San Onofre nuclear plant could be back in service in November and December. Units 2 and 3 have been offline since premature tube wear was found in their recently replaced steam generators several...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released further details on the thinning steam generator tubes that have kept both operating reactors at California's San Onofre nuclear plant out of commission since last winter. Each unit has two steam generators with 9,727 tubes apiece. Testing of unit 3's...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission pointed a finger at the design of steam generators manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as it summarized recent inspections of premature tube wear at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear plant. At a public meeting Monday (video below) and in statements...

Engineers at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear plant have reported that vibration sensors meant to protect bearings in emergency diesel generators could conceivably shut them down during an earthquake. While actual reactor accident conditions would cause emergency systems to bypass...

The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rebuffed recent projections for the restart of reactors at the San Onofre nuclear plant, describing them as premature. On Monday, NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko issued a statement making plain that regulators do not currently have a timeline for the plant’s...

While reporting first-quarter earnings, Edison International indicated repairs at California’s San Onofre nuclear plant are expected to cost between $55 million and $65 million. The estimate addresses prematurely thinning tubes within steam generators that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries delivered...

With worn steam generator tubes keeping both San Onofre reactors offline, and with state regulators raising the possibility of summer blackouts, the Navy is working on an agreement to cut back on its power usage in exchange for lower electric rates. Over the weekend, California media described the negotiations...

Southern California Edison has completed additional inspections on its Unit 2 steam generators at San Onofre, according to a SCE release Friday. On April 11, SCE identified wear in two of the 19,454 tubes in the Unit 2 generators that was similar to the type of wear that was previously seen in Unit...

Premature wear of steam generator tubes at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station unit 2 appears to be more similar to tube wear in unit 3 than originally thought. Both reactors are offline following the discovery of about 300 thinning tubes in their steam generators replaced in 2009 and 2010. Earlier...

The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said he will visit the San Onofre nuclear plant personally as Southern California Edison grapples with tube wear in relatively new steam generators at both SONGS units. The planned visit by Gregory B. Jaczko, reported Wednesday, follows a confirmatory...

The NRC has issued a Confirmatory Action Letter (attached below) documenting actions that Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) officials have agreed to take related to unusual wear on steam generator tubes prior to restarting both units of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). “This...

Three thinning steam generator tubes in San Onofre unit 3 failed during recent in-situ tests, resulting in further scrutiny from federal regulators. Southern California Edison tested 129 tubes showing signs of premature wear, according to a company release. The procedure, which subjected them to upwards...

A worker fell into the cooling water of San Onofre unit 2 during a recent reactor pressure vessel head replacement, prompting a review of safety procedures at the California nuclear plant. A Southern California Edison spokesman on Thursday told the North County Times the veteran contractor employee lost...

Just two years after it was replaced, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported significant wear in a steam generator at California’s San Onofre Nuclear Plant. Earlier in the week, San Onofre unit 3 was taken out of service because of a leaking steam generator tube that resulted in a small...

Southern California Edison (SCE), operator of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), took steps yesterday for a precautionary shutdown of Unit 3. Sensors that detect possible leaks indicated a leak in one of the unit's steam generator tubes. The potential issue poses no imminent danger...