Something most to the public (as usual) do not know-yet!
> NEWS FROM NIRS
> Nuclear Information and Resource Service
> 1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington, DC 20036. 202.328.0002;
> f:202.462.2183 nirsnet@nirs.org; www.nirs.org
>
> For Immediate Release Contact: Michael Mariotte or
Paul Gunter
> March 22, 2001 202.328.0002
>
> LITTLE NOTICED ACCIDENT AT SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR POWER REACTOR IS KEY
STORY
> BEHIND CALIFORNIA BLACKOUTS
>
> A significant accident February 3 at Southern California Edison's San
> Onofre-3 nuclear power reactor is a major cause of the rolling
blackouts
> that have plagued California this week.
>
> According to published reports, California has lacked up to 800
> Megawatts (MW) of power during the blackout periods. When running at
> full power, San Onofre-3 produces 1120 MW of electricity. Had the
> reactor been operating, the blackouts almost certainly would not have
> occurred.
>
> The accident occurred when a circuit breaker fault caused a fire-that
> lasted nearly three hours-a loss of offsite power, and a reactor
scram.
> A related failure of an oil pump resulted in extensive damage to the
> plant's turbine. The reactor is expected to be shutdown for repairs
for
> at least three months. Although the utility claims no radiation was
> released and no nuclear safety issues were involved, the federal
Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission sent a Special Inspection Team to the plant
site
> to investigate the accident. The NRC met with SCE officials today to
go
> over their findings. That team's report is expected to be publicly
> released soon.
>
> "This serious accident, which has gone virtually unnoticed in the
daily
> attention given to California's electricity problems, highlights the
> vulnerability of electrical systems that rely on nuclear power, and
is a
> clear demonstration why atomic reactors can never be counted on to
meet
> our energy needs. Not only have nuclear plants always been too
costly,
> they are too unreliable as well," said Michael Mariotte, executive
> director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), a
> Washington-DC based nuclear watchdog group. "When one of these large
> reactors goes down-and as reactors age, they will go down more
> often-large amounts of replacement power are needed-but are not
always
> available. This situation is likely to worsen as time goes on, not
> improve."
>
> In January, California's electricity shortage was prompted in part by
a
> storm which washed large amounts of kelp into the Diablo Canyon
nuclear
> plant's water intake system, forcing those two reactors to reduce
power
> to 20% to avoid a potential meltdown accident.
>
> "Using nuclear power to meet electricity needs is a lot like playing
> Russian Roulette," said Paul Gunter, chief of NIRS' Reactor Watchdog
> Project. "Most of the time you'll win, but when you lose, the results
> can be catastrophic."
>
> NIRS was among the organizations that opposed California's
deregulation
> law from the beginning, and supported a 1998 referendum that would
have
> repealed that law. But California utilities spent $40 million to
defeat
> the referendum, thereby ensuring their steady march toward
bankruptcy.
>
> "At the time, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison
were
> eyeing some $25 Billion in 'stranded costs' charged under the
> deregulation scheme to California ratepayers to pay for San Onofre
and
> Diablo Canyon," explained Mariotte. "Much of that money seems to have
> been distributed to their holding companies, and has not been used
for
> the benefit of Californians. And the bailout certainly hasn't made
their
> reactors any more reliable, nor any safer."
>
> "Anyone who believes nuclear power is a way out of California's (or
the
> nation's) energy problem should simply consider how much electricity
> could have been provided by safe, clean renewable energy and energy
> efficiency programs for the $25 Billion California spent on its
> unreliable nuclear reactors," concluded Gunter. "The choice is clear:
we
> can meet our energy needs economically, or we can have nuclear power.
We can't have both."
>
> --30--
>
> N U K E - W A S T E @ I C G . T O P I C A . C O M
>
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