Published: August 21st, 2012 at 3:21 pm ET
|
Title: San Onofre layoffs raise questions about nuclear plant’s future
Source: LA Times
Date: Aug 21, 2012
More than six months after a leaking steam generator tube prompted a complete shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, Southern California Edison officials announced plans to lay off nearly one-third of its workforce, leading many to wonder if the troubled plant would ever fully reopen.
[...]
Title: Edison to Cut Staff by a Third at Shut San Onofre Nuclear Plant
Source: Businessweek
Date: Aug 21, 2012
[...]
The utility must “be prudent with its future spending while Southern California Edison and regulators review the long- term viability of the nuclear power plant,” Edison said in the statement. “The reality is that the Unit 3 reactor will not be operating for some time.”
[...]
Title: Utility to lay off 730 at closed Calif. nuclear power plant
Source: Reuters
Date: Aug 21, 2012
[...]
The closure of the 2,150-megawatt SONGS, which typically supplies the state with about 8 percent of its electricity, has at times strained the power grid during the warmer-than-usual California summer.
Grid operators have fired up some vintage natural gas-powered facilities and asked Californians to conserve electricity during peak hours to prevent rolling blackouts.
So far, good planning and an impressive response from consumers to public pleas for conservation has kept the juice flowing uninterrupted in the state this summer.
[...]
Published: August 21st, 2012 at 3:21 pm ET
|
sending...
So they never really needed it in the first place?
Report Comment
oooh come on ,like these workers couldn't see the writing on the wall? i don't buy it, they knew the steam generator was modified beyond what it could handle,without any oversight;and the chances of it NOT breaking ,was less than most las vegas casinos. Socal edison will play poker with this and try to file chapter 11 ,so as to delay and $ for pensions to the workers. almost 3/4 of a billion $ wasted on this "old" technology . and the Salton sea is rocks throw -aways from here, with enough geothermal power to light up all of LA and san diego!! just to throw this in ,on youtube ,i tried to post :" Tepco is murdering a billion kids for money" ,and youtube cut off the .." for money" part. with that said the place we, post are getting hip to all this "change" we wish to bring to the table facebook is a NSA screensaver.
Report Comment
Not needed at all. They supply 15% of the world's electricity, and can be shut down immediately.
Report Comment
The reality is – without new steam generators for both Units 2 & 3 San Onofre is DONE.
Report Comment
Btw, electric companies don't need to lay anyone off. They just need to build safe (non-nuclear) plants. Like, start now!
Report Comment
kerzactly
stop mining uranium. start harvesting renewables.
Report Comment
Are these sub contractors or permanent employees? If they are sub contractors this does not mean very much. If they are Edison permanent employees then it is very different. Laying off permanent workers means that most likely that San Onofre will never run again.
Report Comment
Sing a swan song for SONGS.
SONGS is done… a massive monument to a dying industry. The nucleocrats will put up a good fight for the rest and the other 400 plants will not go away soon. But the closings will start as a trickle, and then turn into a flood. Even the dictators will give them up finally, because who will want to be the last destroyed country?
Report Comment
I am wondering who will decommission these NPPs? They can't fire everybody and leave.
Report Comment
Hi 6feetunder, noone will, as many operators lost gambled away their decommissioning funds in the financial crisis in 2008… See this:
"The operators of 20 of the nation’s aging nuclear reactors, including some whose licenses expire soon, have not saved nearly enough money for prompt and proper dismantling. If it turns out that they must close, the owners intend to let them sit like industrial relics for 20 to 60 years or even longer while interest accrues in the reactors’ retirement accounts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/science/earth/as-nuclear-reactors-age-funds-to-close-them-lag.html?pagewanted=all
Report Comment
That is intergenerational theft. These decision makers need to leave. They are incompetent. San Onofre NPP is near some very nice places.
Report Comment
When there is a catastrophagus at San Onofre while in operation 2 people to jail bacause its safety is guaranteed.
When there is a catastrophagus at San Onofre while not in operation 0 people to jail because its safety is not guaranteed.
What a bargain!
Report Comment
"Catastrophagus" Great word.
Report Comment
"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Cites San Onofre Nuclear Plant for Security Lapse"
http://truth-out.org/news/item/10984-nuclear-regulatory-commission-cites-san-onofre-nuclear-plant-for-security-lapse
SONGS has been having problems for a looooong time:
http://www.sanonofresafety.org
Report Comment
Well we still have " Devil Canyon " NPP up here where I live on the Central Coast … it rests on faulty ( as in seismic ) earth … I believe it has been said that the spent fuel is in dry cask storage on site … the reactors are two meltdowns in waiting … shiver my timbers ! … Yarrrr , yarrr , me Buckos !
Report Comment
It's California – where people move to enjoy the sunshine. Retrain the workers to build and install solar panels on the roofs of homes and buildings. They should have been doing this years ago.
Report Comment