Over 1,300 tubes containing radioactive water inside San Onofre nuclear plant's steam generators in California has been reportedly damaged enough that they need to be taken out of service. To date, the safety of tubing that snakes around the plant's 4 steam generators were installed in a multimillion-dollar upgrade three years ago. According to the company's official statement on Monday, 807 tubes in Unit 3 and 510 tubes from Unit 2 reactors were retired. Every generator has almost 10,000 tubes and the total number of plugged tubes would not affect a proper operation of the plant. Their statement came just days after an executive from Edison International announced that the firm plans to restart at least one of the reactors in the coming months. They are apparently planning which reactor will run at reduced energy for several months at least, because engineers are of the opinion that it will solve the problem of vibration -- something that the firm suspects is causing the unexpected wear in the alloy tubes.

1. Thousands of Tubes Damaged
at Calif Nuclear Plant
Maximo Norton
Norton Medical and Scientific Research &
Biotechnology

2. Over 1,300 tubes containing radioactive water inside
San Onofre nuclear plant's steam generators in
California has been reportedly damaged enough that
they need to be taken out of service.
To date, the safety of tubing that snakes around the
plant's 4 steam generators were installed in a
multimillion-dollar upgrade three years ago.
According to the company's official statement on
Monday, 807 tubes in Unit 3 and 510 tubes from Unit 2
reactors were retired. Every generator has almost
10,000 tubes and the total number of plugged tubes
would not affect a proper operation of the plant.

3. Their statement came just days after an
executive from Edison International announced
that the firm plans to restart at least one of the
reactors in the coming months. They are
apparently planning which reactor will run at
reduced energy for several months at least,
because engineers are of the opinion that it will
solve the problem of vibration -- something that
the firm suspects is causing the unexpected
wear in the alloy tubes.
The chairman of Edison, SCE's parent company,
reportedly called investors to notify them of the
premature wear found in around 1% of 39,000
tubes in the generators.

4. A nuclear watchdog Norton Medical and Scientific
Research & Biotechnology issued a warning, saying
in effect that it seems «the new steam generators
are falling apart and Edison doesn't know why. It
would be foolhardy to restart, even at reduced
power, under the current circumstances.»
The nuclear plant is owned by the Riverside City
together with San Diego Gas and Electric and SCE. A
joint statement released last week by the California
Independent System Operator and Edison gave
possible dates this June for planning. However,
government regulators were quick to assert that
there is no timetable for a restart -- something that
would still need a federal approval.

5. The alert concerns stemmed from an incident in January when
the third reactor was shut off after a tube broke. But although
radiation has escaped during that time, officials were quick to
assure residents and workers that there was no imminent
danger. Earlier that month, the second unit was shut down for its
regular maintenance but investigators discovered instead of
premature wear on hundreds of tubes that were only installed 2
years ago by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. (The first unit operated
on 1968 was dismantled in 1992.)
The tubes stand for a crucial safety barrier, that is, if a tube
breaks then there is considerable chance for radioactivity to
escape onto the atmosphere. Serious leaks could also use up the
protective cooling water employed in a reactor.
SCE estimates that the repair expenses could cost about USD 55
to 65 million, aside from the initial USD 30 million it has spent to
replace the output from the 2 reactors earlier this