Two Years After San Onofre Shutdown Questions Remain

Aired 1/30/14 on KPBS Midday Edition

GUESTS:

Arnie Gundersen- Former Nuclear Power Energy Executive and chief engineer for Fairewinds Energy Education.

Ray Lutz, is a member of the Coalition to Decommission San Onofre

We invited a representative of Southern California Edison to join the conversation. They declined and also declined a request for a statement.

Transcript for audioclip 21184

Friday marks the second anniversary of the tiny radiation leak that eventually led to the complete shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Power plant.

The permanent closure, announced in June 2013, ended speculation about the extent of the damage and potential danger of restarting the plant.

But it's not the end of the story. State regulators are conducting a meticulous review of how Southern California Edison handled the failure of the steam generators.

Looking ahead, Ted Craver, CEO of Southern California Edison told the Orange County Register that Edison will submit its decommissioning plans to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a few months including updated cost estimates.

In a related story, Thursday a U.S. Senate committee held a hearing on nuclear safety, including seismic studies in California.

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