Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Nuclear Regulatory Commission to send inspectors to San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station

SAN DIEGO - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced today it will send more inspectors to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to see why three steam generator tubes failed in pressure testing.

The tubes failed the tests on Wednesday, said officials of Southern California Edison, the facility's operator.

The NRC had inspectors on hand at the time, and the new group will add to their number.

The tubes are three of more than 19,000 in Unit Three at the northern San Diego County plant, located near the Orange County line.

Unit Three has been shut down for testing and maintenance for about six weeks, according to SCE.

According to the NRC, the tests involved pumping water into the tubes and increasing the pressure while monitoring with a pressure gauge to evaluate the integrity of the tube.

The tubes are important because they provide an additional barrier inside the containment building to prevent a release of radioactive steam, the NRC said. The agency said the level of wear in the tube was unusual.

''Tests at a nuclear plant are designed to detect potential safety issues, and these tests serve that purpose,'' said Ron Litzinger, president of SCE. ''Our tube testing plan, in accordance with industry standards, is designed to help us understand the safety issues and significance of this situation.''

The additional NRC inspectors will come from the agency's regional office and national headquarters.

''An (augmented inspection team) is used when the NRC wants to promptly review the circumstances surrounding a significant issue,'' said Elmo Collins, the NRC Region IV administrator. ''We want to make sure we understand the cause of the degraded steam generator tubes and take appropriate actions based on our inspection results.''

The NRC will hold a public meeting at the end of the inspection to discuss preliminary findings.

San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station has failure during a pressure stress test

SAN ONOFRE - Three steam generator tubes in Unit 3 of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station failed during a pressure stress test, Southern California Edison announced today.

Following industry standards and requirements, the plant's majority owner notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the tube test failures, SCE President Ron Litzinger said. SCE is conducting ''in-situ'' tests on 129 of the 19,454 steam generator tubes in Unit 3, he said.

NRC inspectors are on site for those tests, which consist of the steam generator tubes being slowly pressurized with non-radioactive water in stages, using up to three times the normal operating condition pressure, according to the utility.

Litzinger anticipates additional NRC inspections because of the test failures.

''Tests at a nuclear plant are designed to detect potential safety issues, and these tests serve that purpose,'' he said. ''Our tube testing plan, in accordance with industry standards, is designed to help us understand the safety issues and significance of this situation.''

Unit 3 has been shut down since Jan. 31, after station operators detected a leak in one of its steam generator tubes. Its two steam generators are undergoing extensive testing and inspections in order to fully assess their condition and the cause of the leak.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/22/2024 08:28