{"id":3916,"date":"2013-06-07T12:20:43","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T16:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=3916"},"modified":"2013-06-07T12:23:07","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T16:23:07","slug":"san-onofre-nuke-closing-for-good-socal-edison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/san-onofre-nuke-closing-for-good-socal-edison.html","title":{"rendered":"San Onofre nuke closing for good –Socal Edison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nA big victory today for\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nanti-nuke<\/a> and pro-solar activists:\r\nthe leaky San Onofre nukes will stay closed for good!\r\nCost to close them?\r\nBetween between $450 million and $650.\r\nThis is after\r\n\r\nSoCal Edison and 20% owner San Diego Gas & Electric<\/a> “more than $780\r\nmillion replacing the steam generators several years ago, which\r\nratepayers are now repaying.”\r\nThe new Plant Vogtle nukes are already about\r\na billion dollars over and 19 months behind<\/a>:\r\nlet’s\r\n\r\nstop them now<\/a> before Georgia Power and Southern Company\r\n\r\nwaste any more of our money on them<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nPR from SoCal Edison today,\r\n\r\nSouthern California Edison Announces Plans to Retire San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station<\/a>,\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n

\r\nCompany Will Continue its Work with State Agencies on Electric Grid\r\nReliability\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nROSEMEAD, Calif. (June 7, 2013) — Southern California Edison\r\n(SCE) has decided to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 of its San\r\nOnofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n“SONGS has served this region for over 40 years,” said\r\nTed Craver, Chairman and CEO of Edison International, parent company\r\nof SCE, “but we have concluded that the continuing uncertainty\r\nabout when or if SONGS might return to service was not good for our\r\ncustomers, our investors, or the need to plan for our region’s\r\nlong-term electricity needs.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nBoth SONGS units have been shut down safely since January 2012. Unit\r\n2 was taken out of service January 9, 2012, for a planned routine\r\noutage. Unit 3 was safely taken offline January 31, 2012, after\r\nstation operators detected a small leak in a tube inside a steam\r\ngenerator manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Two\r\nsteam generators manufactured by MHI were installed in Unit 2 in\r\n2009 and two more were installed in Unit 3 in 2010, one of which\r\ndeveloped the leak.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn connection with the decision, SCE estimates that it will record a\r\ncharge in the second quarter of between $450 million and $650\r\nmillion before taxes ($300 million—$425 million after tax), in\r\naccordance with accounting requirements.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAfter months of analysis and tests, SCE submitted a restart plan to\r\nthe Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in October 2012. SCE\r\nproposed to safely restart Unit 2 at a reduced power level (70%) for\r\nan initial period of approximately five months. That plan was based\r\non work done by engineering groups from three independent firms with\r\nexpertise in steam generator design and manufacturing.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe NRC has been reviewing SCE’s plans for restart of Unit 2 for the\r\nlast eight months, during which several public meetings have been\r\nheld. A recent ruling by an adjudicatory arm of the NRC, the Atomic\r\nSafety and Licensing Board, creates further uncertainty regarding\r\nwhen a final decision might be made on restarting Unit 2. Additional\r\nadministrative processes and appeals could result in delay of more\r\nthan a year. During this period, the costs of maintaining SONGS in a\r\nstate of readiness to restart and the costs to replace the power\r\nSONGS previously provided would continue. Moreover, it is uneconomic\r\nfor SCE and its customers to bear the long-term repair costs for\r\nreturning SONGS to full power operation without restart of Unit 2.\r\nSCE has concluded that efforts are better focused on planning for\r\nthe replacement generation and transmission resources which will be\r\nrequired for grid reliability.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“Looking ahead,” said Ron Litzinger, SCE’s President,\r\n“we think that our decision to retire the units will eliminate\r\nuncertainty and facilitate orderly planning for California’s energy\r\nfuture.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nLitzinger noted that the company has worked with the California\r\nIndependent System Operator, the California Energy Commission and\r\nthe California Public Utilities Commission in planning for Southern\r\nCalifornia’s energy needs and will continue to do so.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“The company is already well into a summer reliability program\r\nand has completed numerous transmission upgrades in addition to\r\nthose completed last year,” Litzinger said. “Thanks to\r\nconsumer conservation, energy efficiency programs and a moderate\r\nsummer, the region was able to get through last summer without\r\nelectricity shortages. We hope for the same positive result again\r\nthis year,” Litzinger added, “although generation\r\noutages, soaring temperatures or wildfires impacting transmission\r\nlines would test the system.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn connection with the retirement of Units 2 and 3, San Onofre\r\nanticipates reducing staff over the next year from approximately\r\n1,500 to approximately 400 employees, subject to applicable\r\nregulatory approvals. The majority of such reductions are expected\r\nto occur in 2013.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“This situation is very unfortunate,” said Pete\r\nDietrich, SCE’s Chief Nuclear Officer, noting that “this is an\r\nextraordinary team of men and women. We will treat them\r\nfairly.” SCE will work to ensure a fair process for this\r\ntransition, and will work with the Utility Workers Union of America\r\n(UWUA) and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW)\r\non transition plans for the employees they represent.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nSCE also recognizes its continuing safety responsibilities as it\r\nmoves toward decommissioning of the units. SCE’s top priority will\r\nbe to ensure a safe, orderly, and compliant retirement of these\r\nunits. Full retirement of the units prior to decommissioning will\r\ntake some years in accordance with customary practices. Actual\r\ndecommissioning will take many years until completion. Such\r\nactivities will remain subject to the continued oversight of the\r\nNRC.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nSCE intends to pursue recovery of damages from Mitsubishi Heavy\r\nIndustries, the supplier of the replacement steam generators, as\r\nwell as recovery of amounts under applicable insurance policies.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFor updates, please visit\r\n\r\nwww.SONGScommunity.com<\/a>, or follow us on\r\nTwitter at\r\n\r\nwww.twitter.com\/SCE_SONGS<\/a> and on\r\n\r\nwww.facebook.com\/SCE<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nSan Onofre is jointly owned by SCE (78.21 percent), San Diego Gas &\r\nElectric (20 percent) and the city of Riverside (1.79 percent).\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAbout Southern California Edison\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAn Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California\r\nEdison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a\r\npopulation of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in\r\na 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and\r\nSouthern California.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

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