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Economy

Public Meeting Thursday About San Onofre Nuclear Plant

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

NRC, Edison Will Discuss Safety Issues

Public Meeting Thursday About San Onofre Nuclear Plant
Government regulators say the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station is not making headway in changing the safety culture at the plant. The facility operators will be part of a public meeting later this week.

Government regulators say the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station is not making headway in changing the safety culture at the plant. The facility operators will be part of a public meeting later this week.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently sent a letter to Southern California Edison, which operates the plant. In the letter, the NRC said the plant needs to make some changes.

Some of the NRC's concerns include falsified records and loose connections on backup generators.

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The agency also questioned whether Edison's employees and outside contractors were following federal procedures.

The former plant chief stepped down recently and has been replaced by Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Sheppard.

"We've done a lot of training with supervisors, we continue to do that training," said Sheppard. "And we're also doing additional training with all our employees and we monitor this very, very closely."

The NRC said the plant is operated in a safe manner but is concerned that lax work habits could cause safety problems.

The public is invited to ask questions after the NRC and Edison make presentations during a Thursday meeting in Dana Point.

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The meeting is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, 34402 Pacific Coast Highway, in Dana Point.

The meeting is a routine part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission assessment of U.S. nuclear plants.