"Our operators performed exactly as they are trained to perform and took prompt action to ensure we did not create a situation involving any challenge to the health and safety of the public."

Unusual wear has been found on hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California‘s San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant, in more than 871, the thinning was at least 10 percent. This has raised the level of local alarm dramatically in California, and is also raising questions about the integrity of equipment the company installed in a multimillion-dollar makeover in 2009.
The news could be catastrophic for San Onofre, which spent $680 million to replace the plant’s four steam generators and expected them to last for decades.
According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, more than a third of the wall had been worn away in two tubes at Unit 2, which will require them to be plugged and taken out of service. At least 20 percent of the tube wall was worn away in 69 other tubes, and in more than 800, the thinning was at least 10 percent.
Meanwhile, plant workers continued to prepare to open the access hatch in the side of the concrete containment dome that protects San Onofre’s Unit 3 reactor. Once inside, technicians will need to begin diagnostic probes to find the location of the leak that caused Edison to shut the unit down at 5:31 p.m. Tuesday.
“The amount of wear that we are seeing on these tubes is unusual for a new steam generator,” NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said. “If you have that kind of thinning anywhere along the length of the tube, you have a problem because it degrades the integrity of the tube, which can contribute to leaks.”
He continued by confirming that Edison will have to file a special “justification for continued operation” document before the regulator will allow the Unit 2 reactor to be restarted.
“They will have to specify what steps they’re taking to ensure that, if the tubes are damaged, they have been repaired in a safe manner,” Dricks said. He added that Edison will also have to diagnose why the generators appear to be degrading more quickly than expected and come up with a plan to address accelerated wear.
Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Edison, said that he was working to confirm Dricks information Wednesday morning. Plant operator Southern California Edison did not dispute the figures released by the NRC, but cautioned that testing on the tubes is preliminary. Spokesman Gil Alexander called the tests “an initial snapshot” and said more sophisticated tests will take place.
He did not know if the testing would delay the reactor’s planned two-month shutdown. ”It’s not unprecedented in the industry for there to be accelerated wear in small sections of tubes in early years of usage,” he said.[Blatant lie]

SAN ONOFRE: Worker at nuclear plant fell into reactor pool last week
BY PAUL SISSON psisson@nctimes.com North County Times
Posted: Friday, February 3, 2012 5:00 am

A worker at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station fell inside the plant's Unit 2 reactor pool last week, but officials determined he did not suffer significant radiation exposure.

Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said Thursday that the worker, who is employed by a private contractor assigned to replace the reactor’s vessel head, "momentarily lost his balance" and fell into the pool Jan. 27 while leaning over to retrieve a flashlight.

“He was wearing all of the appropriate safety equipment, including a life preserver vest. We immediately began a thorough medical screening to determine if there had been any injury,” Alexander said.

The pool is more than 20 feet deep and holds water that continually circulates through the reactor core.

Workers already had removed the highly radioactive uranium fuel that normally sits at the bottom of the pool, officials said.

Without the fuel present, the most likely source of deadly radiation would be stray fuel particles that could have been floating in the water, said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks.

Alexander said Edison decontaminated the worker and conducted tests to determine whether he had swallowed any dangerous particles.

Alexander said initial tests showed no significant radiation exposure.