Public Safety

NRC Faults Edison For San Onofre Nuclear Plant Leak

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published February 10, 2012 at 11:47 AM PST

This story was published more than 12 years ago.

But Called Leak 'Very Low Safety Significance'

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission report Friday faults plant operator Southern California Edison for failing to follow its own procedures at the twin-reactor site in San Diego County.

The report says the problem at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station had "very low safety significance."

"As a member of the nuclear energy industry, we always conduct a root cause analysis after any incident," said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison. "Our analysis found the same contributing factors as the NRC. We agree with their determination that this was a very low-safety-significant event. Safety is the number one priority at the plant and we already have mitigation plans in place."

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But watchdog groups have criticized the company for not alerting the public for more than an hour after the Nov. 1 leak started in a storage tank.

Some workers were evacuated but there was no public danger.

Meanwhile, the company is investigating a leak in a steam generator tube, as well as unusual wear in hundreds of tubes in the second plant.

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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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