Fate of Nuclear Energy in Southern California May Dim

Ken Silverstein | May 03, 2013

Southern California may not go dark this summer. But the future of the nuclear power plants that provide the power there are in doubt. During a conference call, Edison International said that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, or SONGS, may retire both of its reactors along the Pacific coastline.

Since January 2012, both SONGS units have been shut down. Tubes located in newly-installed steam generators had prematurely eroded -- items that had been installed in 2009. The closure of the two units has cost $470 million, which has been absorbed by the region’s customers and the company’s shareholders.

Specifically, Unit 2 was taken down for routine maintenance. Unit 3, meanwhile, was taken off line a few weeks later because of the leaking tubes. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that the public has never been at risk. Southern California Edison, which is a subsidiary of Edison International and which operates the nuclear plant, has asked nuclear regulators if could restart Unit 2 and gradually crank it up to 70 percent of its capacity.

The utility wants to do this in time to meet summer demand, and is asking for a decision this month. The company has said that it is not optimistic that its timeframe will get met while nuclear regulators have said that they cannot promise any decisions before summer.

“Without a restart of Unit 2, a decision to retire one or both units would likely be made before year-end 2013,” says Theodore Craver, chief executive of Edison International in a conference call. “There are many potential decision scenarios involving Unit 2 and Unit 3. They all have different implications for grid reliability, customer costs, attainment of greenhouse gas and air quality objectives and many other factors. We look to narrow these uncertainties and the potential operating scenarios for both units before the end of the year.”

The two SONGS units provide a total of 2,250 megawatts of power for the region. The California ISO, which schedules and delivers power supplies along the transmission grid, has said that the excess capacity from other plants will ease the void. As such, natural gas facilities are generating much of the required electricity.

“Safety of the public and our employees remains our paramount goal,” says Craver. “Our restart plan for Unit 2 is predicated on this. Also, San Onofre plays an important role in the reliability of the electric system in Southern California.”

Spilling Over

The problems are spilling over: SoCalEd and its vendor, Mitsubishi, which was hired to install the four steam generators at SONGS’ Units 2 and 3, have conflicting accounts. Apparently, a defect was discovered after the installation in 2009. That is, there were excessive vibrations that caused the erosion of the tubes and the small radiation leaks.

SoCalEd says that it did not know of this vibration and that it only became aware of it in January 2012. Mitsubishi, however, says that they both knew of the vibrations from the get-go in 2009. The strategy then became to minimize the problem as opposed to install new parts or craft a new design. Citizen groups subsequently accused both companies of being more concerned about profits than public safety.

What’s next? If SoCalEd can’t restart Unit 2, it may shut down the whole operation. Or, according to public filings, it may work with Mitsubishi to redesign the steam generators. That would take five years.

While Mitsubishi is responsible for fixing problems, it says that its liabilities are limited. In this case, it says that threshold is $138 million where as SoCalEd says the amount is much greater, or perhaps three times more.

The possibility of losing SONGS comes atop an announcement by Duke Energy that it will cease operations at its Chrystal River nuclear facility in Florida. A crack in the containment wall there only exacerbated after nuclear engineers tried repairing it. The 860 megawatt plant has been idle since 2009. Meantime, Dominion Resources also plans to shed a nuclear plant in Wisconsin.

And while the nuclear industry is showing some wear and tear, it is also demonstrating resilience. Southern Co. and its partners are getting ready to finalize an $8 billion loan guarantee to construct two nuclear units on an existing site. South Carolina-based Scana Corp. is building two more, all four of which could be operational by 2020.

Nuclear operators are in a period of self-examination, especially SoCalEd. While some units may get retired, the industry says that it is committed to pursuing next-generation technologies that will prove safe and effective.

EnergyBiz Insider has been awarded the Gold for Original Web Commentary presented by the American Society of Business Press Editors. The column is also the Winner of the 2011 Online Column category awarded by Media Industry News, MIN. Ken Silverstein has been honored as one of MIN’s Most Intriguing People in Media.

Twitter: @Ken_Silverstein

energybizinsider@energycentral.com

To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.energycentral.com

To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.energybiz.com

http://www.energybiz.com/article/13/05/fate-nuclear-energy-southern-california-may-dim