nuclear-news

No end of problems for San Onofre nuclear power plant

San Onofre’s Unit 3 reactor shut indefinitely while US regulators probe tube problems  Washington Post, By Associated Press,   March 15 LOS ANGELES — A nuclear reactor on the California coast will remain shut down indefinitely while a team of federal inspectors determines why several relatively new tubes became so frail that tests found they could rupture and release radioactive water, a federal official said Thursday….

The Unit 3 reactor at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, located about 45 miles north of San Diego, was shut down as a precaution on Jan. 31 after a water leak from another tube in a massive steam generator. Traces of radiation escaped, but officials say there was no danger to workers or neighbors.

Since then, investigators have been looking into excessive wear found on steam generator tubes in the seaside plant and its twin, Unit 2, which has been off line for maintenance and refueling. The two huge steam generators at Unit 2, each containing 9,700 tubes, were replaced in fall 2009, and a year later in Unit 3 as part of a $670 million overhaul.

The NRC dispatched a special, five-member team to Unit 3 on Thursday after pressure tests showed three of the metal-alloy tubes had become so degraded that they could rupture under some circumstances. Such ruptures can require a plant to shut down, if spewing water reaches 150 gallons a day……
San Onofre’s Unit 1 reactor operated from 1968 to 1992, when it was shut down and dismantled. The utility’s plan to ship the 600-ton reactor vessel on a 15,500-mile voyage around South America to a disposal site in South Carolina was thwarted and it remains at San Onofre, encased in concrete and steel….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/federal-regulators-to-investigate-tube-failures-at-califs-san-onofre-nuclear-power-plant/2012/03/15/gIQAn3lIES_story.html

March 16, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, safety, USA