ROSEMEAD & FOLSOM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southern California Edison (SCE) and the California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO) seek to clarify media statements with regard to the restart of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
SCE and the ISO have maintained throughout the SONGS outage that nuclear safety has no timeline and the units will only be returned to service when SCE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are satisfied it is safe to do so. SCE has not filed a request with the NRC seeking to restart the plant.
Recent media reports referred to June dates for the restart of Units 2 and 3 at SONGS. However, those dates were provided by SCE to the ISO as a purely administrative matter in March of 2012 because, for long-range planning purposes, ISO requires an estimated return to service date to be posted. These dates are for planning purposes only and are subject to change.
“We want to clarify the use of planning dates and make sure it is clear that there is no timeline on nuclear safety,” said SCE President Ron Litzinger.
SCE continues to do causal analysis and develop repair and corrective actions plans. When SCE is satisfied it can return the units to service safely, it will submit these plans to the NRC.
Both units of the plant are currently safely shut down for inspections, analysis and tests. Unit 2 was taken out of service Jan. 9 for a planned outage. Unit 3 was safely taken off line Jan. 31 after station operators detected a leak in a steam generator tube.
More information is available at www.edison.com/songsupdate.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
About California Independent System Operator Corporation
The California ISO operates the state’s wholesale transmission grid, providing open and non-discriminatory access supported by a competitive energy market and comprehensive planning efforts. Partnering with about a hundred client organizations, the nonprofit public benefit corporation is dedicated to the continual development and reliable operation of a modern grid that operates for the benefit of consumers. The ISO bulk power market allocates space on transmission lines, maintains operating reserves and matches supply with demand.