Moving Energy Education Forward
San Clemente, CA and Toledo, OH -- Southern California Edison announced Friday it would permanently shutdown the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant.
The move comes 17 months after the San Onofre plant was idled because of problems in steam generator systems.
Read MoreUsing NRC and Edison data, Fairewinds analysis determines that San Onofre had 3.7 times the number of plugged tubes than all the replacement steam generators in the US combined, and that 4,000 tubes show significant wear.
Read MorePeggy Pico of KPBS interviews Fairewinds Associates’ chief engineer Arnie Gundersen about Fairewinds’ latest report commissioned by Friends of the Earth. Fairewinds reviewed NRC data and leaked documents from Edison that show that the tube wear and failure at San Onofre is worse than all other U.S. nuclear plants combined.
Read MoreWhy did replacement steam generators fail after two years, when the original generators worked for 28 years? This Fairewinds Associates Report for Friends of the Earth determines that a strategic decision by Edison to avoid a more thorough NRC licensing review process contributed to the resulting crisis.
Read MoreArnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds, demonstrates what has happened inside the replacement steam generators at the site of the San Onofre nuclear generating station in San Diego, California. Arnie shows that steam generator tube vibrations have caused extensive damage due to design changes between the original and replacement generator tubes.
Read MoreA leak discovered earlier this year in a steam generator pipe at the San Onofre nuclear plant has lead to two unanimous City Council decisions to send letters of concern to the NRC. Fairewind's Arnie Gundersen presented at both council meetings. In this video Gundersen talks with KPBS's Peggy Pico about the steam generator leak, the city council decisions and the licensing status of San Onofre.
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Libbe HaLevy, host of the blog/radio show Nuclear Hotseatm interviews Fairewinds’ Arnie Gundersen regarding the ongoing steam generator issues at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power reactor. How and when did the problems with the steam generators begin? What are the potential dangers of restarting the plant this summer, as Edison would like to do, which would be prior to the completion of a full root cause analysis?
Al Stahler hosts Arnie Gundersen on his KVMR-FM, Nevada City, CA radio show Soundings for a technical review of the San Onofre Steam Generator Failures.
Why are the recently installed and newly designed steam generators at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power plant failing? What impact did design engineering changes made to the steam generators have upon the widespread tube failures? Why are the same failures happening at Units 2 and 3? Al questions why the old generators at San Onofre lasted for 28-years of operation while the newly installed generators are failing in less than 2-years. Arnie details the significant design and fabrication changes made to the new steam generators rather than the like-for-like replacement Edison claimed. Arnie concludes that steam generators failed due to the interior alterations designed and fabricated in the new generators.
Fairewinds Energy Education is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to furthering public understanding of nuclear power and nuclear safety related issues.
