NRC to Hold Second Restart Discussion in Maryland

From City News Service --

Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorities will meet with Southern California Edison officials next week to discuss a restart plan for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station south of San Clemente.

The commission held a similar meeting in Laguna Hills this month.

The plant has been shut down since a leak was discovered in one of two nuclear reactors at the end of January. The other reactor was off-line for planned maintenance -- and neither has operated since.

According to the NRC, the Dec. 18 meeting will focus on SCE's October response to a list of actions the agency requires before a restart would be considered.

The utility is the majority owner and operator of the plant. Anti-nuclear activists are opposed to any plans to restart the facility.

A group called Friends of the Earth contends that new steam generators installed at San Onofre in 2010 were of such a different design that SCE should have to go through an entirely new licensing procedure before the plant returns to service.

According to the NRC, no decision on restarting the plant has been made, nor will a decision be made during the Dec. 18 meeting.

NRC staff plans to take questions from the public at the meeting, which will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time in Rockville, Md. The meeting will also be webcast.