Environment

New Website For San Onofre Nuclear Plant

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published March 2, 2010 at 12:54 PM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County is shown in this undated photo.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant has created a special Web site to provide updates on safety and other issues. The site is a response to concerns from nearby residents in San Diego and Orange Counties.

In 2010 there have been two false alarm safety sirens at the nuclear plant and a communication error that caused the shutdown of two safety backup systems.

Southern California Edison, which operates the plant, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have said the plant is safe.

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Edison said the Web site was established last week to provide nearby residents with more information about the plant's operations.

Last year, Nuclear Regulatory Commission assessments found that the plant's shortcomings include a degraded safety culture.

The Commission found plant operators were not keeping up with preventive maintenance among other issues.

The Commission classified most of the plant's problems as being of low safety significance.

But regulators expressed concern those issues could potentially lead to more serious problems.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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