Second SCE filing calls for Mitsubishi accountability in SONGS failure

October 23, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Southern California Edison (SCE) has submitted a Request for Arbitration to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which states claims against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems for the defective steam generators Mitsubishi designed and built for the San Onofre nuclear plant.

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Credit: Jelson25/Wikimedia Commons

The request for binding arbitration seeks to hold Mitsubishi accountable for the defective replacement steam generators, a failure which led to the permanent shutdown of the plant and caused billions of dollars in harm.

"We are taking this step…to ensure that Mitsubishi takes responsibility for providing defective steam generators and to recover, on behalf of our customers, all damages from Mitsubishi for its failures," said Ron Litzinger, SCE president.

SCE requested arbitration after a Notice of Dispute it filed against Mitsubishi in July did not produce a resolution. The Request for Arbitration contends that Mitsubishi totally and fundamentally breached its contract by failing to deliver what it promised. SCE also alleges that Mitsubishi failed to submit to a contractually mandated audit requiring it to disclose documents relevant to the design and other aspects of the replacement steam generator project and its implementation.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced in September that it had identified flaws in the computer codes that Mitsubishi used to design the failed steam generators, at which time the agency issued a Notice of Non-Conformance against Mitsubishi for the failed design resulting from the implementation of the codes. At that time, SCE was also cited for the failed design created by Mitsubishi.

For more:
- see the Request for Arbitration

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/second-sce-filing-calls-mitsubishi-accountability-songs-failure/2013-10-23