The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will likely remain off-line through August, Edison International Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ted Craver told reporters Thursday.
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Flickr: exquisitur)
Southern California Edison, which owns the plant along with San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside, is performing safety inspections and testing, Craver said.
The company expects to deliver a plan to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of July regarding the operation of the plant’s Unit 2, Craver said. The commission, which must approve the restart of Unit 2, will then need time to respond, Craver said.
A plan for Unit 3 is expected to take longer to develop, Craver said.
The shutdown was necessitated by a leak detected in a tube in Unit 3 on Jan. 31. The problem resulted in a minor venting of radioactive gas, according to Southern California Edison officials, who reported that the release was detectable only on sensors in an adjacent building and posed no hazards to plant workers or the public.
Unit 2 was taken down for planned maintenance Jan. 9 and remains off-line.
Unit 1 was in operation from 1968 to 1992, when it was shut down over fears it could not withstand a major earthquake.
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