nuclear-news

NRC faults San Onofre nuclear plant over ammonia leak

Federal regulators fault Southern California’s San Onofre nuclear plant for ammonia leak, Washington Post,  By Associated Press,  February 10 LOS ANGELES — An ammonia leak that caused an emergency alert at the San Onofre nuclear plant in November was caused by employees who failed to recognize degraded equipment and fix it, federal regulators said Friday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission report concluded the problem had
“very low safety significance,” and faulted plant operator Southern
California Edison for failing to follow its own procedures at the
twin-reactor site, about 45 miles from San Diego. A company spokesman
said a response to the report would be issued later Friday.

The report came as the utility continues to investigate a separate
leak in a relatively new steam generator tube that prompted the
company to shut down one reactor as a precaution.

The other reactor is off line for maintenance, and inspectors are
continuing to study what the NRC described as unusual wear found in
hundreds of similar tubes.

Watchdog and environmental groups have criticized the utility for not
alerting the public for more than an hour after the Nov. 1 ammonia
leak started in a storage tank.

The NRC report found workers “failed to adequately identify, evaluate,
and correct a problem” in a water purification system, which led to
the leak….. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/federal-regulators-fault-southern-californias-san-onofre-nuclear-plant-for-ammonia-leak/2012/02/10/gIQAtCOb4Q_story.html

February 11, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general