San Onofre nuclear power plant feeling regulatory pressure
The utility, rated among the worst overall performers in the U.S., aims to fix problems and head off increased oversight.
San Onofre nuclear plant managers are scrambling to avoid stepped-up oversight from regulators and to resolve worker safety and operational problems that have put the facility's industry ratings significantly below its peers.
The twin-reactor facility ranks among the bottom 25% in overall performance when measured against the nation's other nuclear reactors, according to e-mailed newsletters distributed to plant employees.
The ratings, compiled by an influential industry group, showed that San Onofre's employee injury rates were several times higher than the average at other U.S. facilities and that it lags far behind in areas such as power production and the readiness of backup safety systems.
Injury rates at San Onofre put it "dead last" among U.S. nuclear plants when it comes to industrial safety, plant managers told employees in an Aug. 4 newsletter provided by one of the plant's labor unions.
Officials with Southern California Edison, which operates San Onofre, declined to discuss the newsletters, calling them internal company communications. But in an interview, the plant's top executive defended the facility's safety record.
"San Onofre is one of the safest places in Southern California to work," Ross Ridenoure said. "But we don't think that's good enough because some other nuclear plants are even safer than ours. So this is a focus of attention, and we are catching up."
Officials with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission say the plant, located south of San Clemente, does not pose a danger to the public. Out of the 104 U.S. commercial reactors operating today, 17 have fallen short of the government's minimum standards; San Onofre's two reactors aren't among them.
But the plant's subpar industry grades and "willful" violations cited by the commission have put San Onofre under greater scrutiny.
Two teams of federal regulators conducted reviews at the plant this month, arriving on the heels of a two-week evaluation by 25 representatives from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the World Assn. of Nuclear Operators, industry-funded sister organizations that grade plant performance every two years.
One commission team performed a special inspection triggered by continuing electrical problems with San Onofre's backup diesel generators. A commission spokesman said the visit was unusual because it was the third such inspection in the last year.
- San Onofre to Store Nuclear Waste Mar 14, 2001
- Regulators set special inspection of Edison's San Onofre nuclear plant Jul 31, 2008
- San Onofre workers fired, disciplined over safety lapses Jan 16, 2008
