Edison Faces $100,000 in San Onofre Safety Fines

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday proposed fines totaling $100,000 against Southern California Edison for alleged safety violations in which workers at its San Onofre nuclear power plant were exposed to radiation or else accidentally carried flea-sized radioactive particles outside the facility.

Officials of Edison, which operates the plant in northern San Diego County, said it has not decided whether to pay the fines or challenge them.

Becky Sordelet, an Edison spokeswoman, said that in each incident cited by the NRC, no actual hazard existed for plant workers or the public. She said Edison has taken extensive measures after the episodes to guard against any further occurences.

Among the incidents cited by the NRC was one in which an employee’s hand was exposed to 27 times the allowable level of radioactivity while he was working on a pump.

Potential Violation

While the exposure itself represented a potential violation of federal regulations governing nuclear power plants, the NRC slapped Edison with a proposed $50,000 fine instead for failing to report the incident for 25 days. Such incidents are required to be reported immediately.

Edison officials blamed the tardy report on a computer error.

The regulatory agency also fined Edison $50,000 for three incidents involving the inadvertent removal of microscopic radioactive particles from the plant by workers.

In early February, safety inspectors discovered a microscopic fragment on an employee’s shirt sleeve as he arrived at work in the morning. The worker apparently had picked up the particle when he wore the same shirt the day before, but the company’s radiation detection equipment did not pick it up then.

Particle in Shoe

Later that month, the plant’s detection equipment alerted officials when a worker entered the plant with a radioactive particle embedded in his shoe. The employee apparently had inadvertently picked up the particle at work the previous day.

Also in February, a radiation specialist at the plant discovered a small radioactive particle in his home during a self-administered inspection. The tiny particle posed no health hazard to the employee, his family or the public, and was safely removed, Edison officials stressed.

Since those incidents occurred, radiation monitoring has been improved and includes the increased use of new automatic monitoring equipment at plant exits, according to company officials.

Under federal regulations, Edison has 30 days to either pay the fines or challenge them.