Nuclear enforcement officials failed in 2009 to predict that a California power plant’s steam generators would cause problems, government auditors said.
The revelations came in a lengthy report released Tuesday on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego on the Pacific coast.
{mosads}The plant shut down last year, but it had been idle since 2012 after it was found that faulty new steam generators had been rapidly deteriorating, causing a small leak of radiation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Office of Inspector General faulted the agency for “shortcomings” in the 2009 inspection that approved the generator change.
Auditors also questioned how Southern California Edison, the plant’s operator, was allowed to install the new steam generators without amending its operating license.
“There is no assurance that NRC reached the correct conclusion in its 2009 inspection that [San Onofre] did not need a license amendment for its steam generator replacement,” the report concluded.
Some NRC officials questioned whether the agency was making the right decision in allowing the swap to move forward without licensing changes or believe that in hindsight, but the process went through nonetheless.
A former regional NRC official told investigators that the generators were “basically unlicensable” and should not have been approved.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, agreed with the findings.
“When Southern California Edison decided to completely replace their steam generators in order to increase their profit margin, they failed to apply for an amended license as they are required to do, and NRC stood by and did nothing,” she said in a statement.
Boxer said she has initiated her own investigation into the matter and plans to hold a December hearing with NRC officials to discuss the inspector general’s findings.