Region : Tampering Probed at San Onofre Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FBI and utility officials are investigating two recent cases of tampering with equipment at the San Onofre nuclear power plant. The first case, according to David Barron, a spokesman for Southern California Edison Co., which operates the seaside plant, occurred Saturday when someone switched colored lenses on lights that indicate the status of a ventilation system in the containment building for reactor Unit 1, causing the lights to indicate that the system was not working when it actually was. In the second, discovered Tuesday, a saboteur was believed to have opened 10 circuit breakers in a motor control center in Unit 3, shutting off several motors. Those motors were not in service at the time, Barron said, and were not critical to safety. “But every single pump and valve in the plant is important,” Barron said.