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Built on the seashore near San Clemente before tsunamis were even considered a threat to nuclear power plants and on top of a geologic fault to boot, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has been closed since last January when a radiation leak lead to the discovery of seriously deteriorating steam generator tubes. Published findings show more than 3,400 internal steam generator tubes have suffered some sort of damage. Even pro-nuclear federal regulators do not consider the station safe enough to resume operation. Co-owner Southern California Edison has asked permission to restart Unit 2 at 70% because it is loosing big money on the plant. Federal regulators replied that the generating tubes must retain structural integrity "during the full range of normal operating condition" in order to pass inspection. Failure of the generating tubes could release radioactivity into the surroundings. Given the materials and design used to manufacture the steam generators it is unlikely that 100% performance level can be achieved.
Mitsubishi turned a generator upgrade into a fiasco using inferior metals and inadequate design. The plant cost SC Edison $670 million for the overhaul in 2009 and 2010, but decaying tubes in new equipment were found two years later. Decay also forced the plant to shut down and dismantle Unit 1 in 1992 even though the tubes were designed to last until at least 2004. San Onofre is destined to become the latest tombstone of the nuclear power industry*. Killed off not by wild-eyed tree huggers, but steely-eyed financial analysts with sharp pencils. The bottom line is simply this: nuclear power stations are too expensive to build. German pro-nuclear experts predicted shortages when eight of its reactors were shut down in accordance with the nation's official decision to grow green. Not surprisingly, Germany now has lower energy prices and more supply. It is even helping France, the epitome of a nuclear power country, meet its power demands.
California's Public Utilities Commission held an initial meeting last Tuesday to determine if rate payers are entitled to a refund for some of the money they have paid SC Edison during the outage. Its customers are paying more than $1.1 billion a year in costs related to the plant. Edison is resisting the refund question arguing it should be delayed and consolidated with the company's general rate case not due until mid 2014. The Commission said the investigation into San Onofre will probably be broken into four segments with the first phase focused on expenses in 2012. It will hold a public meeting in Costa Mesa on February 21st when the public will have an opportunity to make comments on the prolonged outage and its cost.
*Fort Calhoun is still off line after suffering flooding last year. Kewaunee's owners will shut its plant due to economic reasons. Vermont Yankee is under intense citizen attack after their Senate voted to pull its operating license. Virginia's two nuclear power plants were hit by an earthquake that exceeded their design specifications. Indian Point experienced a transformer explosion causing oil to leak into the Hudson. The owner agreed to pay a $1.2 million penalty. The touted "nuclear renaissance" has become a nuclear dark age filled with increasingly decrepit nuclear reactors.
