500 Workers Could Lose Jobs at San Onofre : Closing: Nuclear generating station will eliminate positions if state approves plan to shut down aging Unit 1, officials say.

As many as 500 jobs at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will be cut beginning late next year if the state approves plans to close the plant’s aging Unit 1, Southern California Edison Corp. officials said Friday.

While none of Edison’s 2,400 employees at the nuclear-powered generating plant will lose jobs because of the closing, Edison would reduce its force of 1,600 workers who, on a contract basis, handle jobs that are janitorial to high-technology in nature, Edison Vice President Harold B. Ray said.

If the state Public Utilities Commission approves the proposed 1993 shutdown, the jobs will probably be eliminated late that year and in the first half of 1994, Ray said.

Edison, which owns 80% of San Onofre, also operates the plant. No employees of San Diego Gas & Electric Co., a minority owner of the plant, would lose their jobs.

Edison and its partners are seeking PUC approval to close Unit 1 because it is costlier to operate and less efficient than two newer units. Electrical power lost through the closing of Unit 1 would be replaced by operating the remaining two plants at higher capacity and through power bought from other sources, according to Edison officials.

Of the 2,400 Edison employees at the San Onofre facility, 700 work directly at Unit 1, Ray said. Half the unit’s employees would be moved to positions elsewhere in the plant. The remainder would continue to work at the 24-year-old nuclear reactor in maintenance roles, Ray said.

Under terms of an agreement with the PUC staff, the utilities would be allowed to raise rates as a result of the closing.