Surplus machinery and equipment at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will be auctioned off next month, majority owner Southern California Edison announced Thursday.
Among the items to be made available March 26-28 will be lathes, grinders, milling equipment and large-capacity manual and computer numerical control machine shops. A CNC is a type of programmable automation that uses microcomputers to carry out machining operations.
Edison announced last June that the facility on the northern San Diego County Coastline would be retired.
A small, non-injury leak forced the shutdown of one of the plant's two reactors in January 2012. The other unit was idle for scheduled maintenance at the time.
Facing mounting opposition and regulatory concerns, utility officials felt that closing down the reactors for good more financial sense than continuing with plans for a restart.
"The sale of such equipment is a standard practice for decommissioning industrial sites such as San Onofre,'' SCE Vice President of Operational Services Doug Bauder said. "It's an efficient way for SCE to reduce inventory and redirect valuable equipment to companies that need it.''
No items for sale were associated with radiological plant operations, according to the utility.
The auction will take place at the plant and on a webcast. Items will be available for inspection March 24-25.
Photos of the equipment and other details are posted on the website of MRI Auctions Inc.
