Loose Bolts at the San Onofre Reactor

Apparently the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is about to permit start-up of San Onofre’s Unit 1 reactor despite damage to the thermal shield supports. Southern California Edison plans to restart the reactor and delay repairs to cracked bolts in supports for 1 1/2 years. Bolts in two of the six support blocks were found defective in November, and NRC staff suspects others to be damaged. The cost of repairs is estimated at up to $15 million and could take 5 to 7 months to complete.

Rep. Jim Bates of San Diego asked the NRC to hold a public hearing before permitting the utility to restart the nuclear generator, but the NRC proposed to restart the reactor first and hold a public hearing later.

I applaud the San Diego area congressmen, San Diego’s mayor and City Council, and Oceanside’s City Council for seeking to halt start-up of the San Onofre reactor unit. However, I am unaware of any Orange County area congressman, any Orange County supervisor, or any Orange County city council that has reacted to plans to restart the defective generator.

Nearly half a million Orange County residents live within San Onofre’s established emergency zone, yet no local action has been taken to protect their welfare. Ten Orange County communities are within 15 miles of San Onofre while only four San Diego communities are within that same range, yet the only response is from San Diego officials.

I ask all Orange County elected officials to request that the NRC hold a public hearing regarding necessary repairs to Unit 1 before permitting San Onofre to restart that generator.

Is it not better to keep the plant shut down to correct the problems than to have the problems shut down the plant? We do not need a Three Mile Island in our back yard. We must all act now to assure a public hearing is held before the restart of Unit 1 at San Onofre.

ELI NAFFAH

Laguna Niguel