NRC: News Release - Region IV - 2008-033 - NRC Conducting Special Inspection at San Onofre Nuclear Plant

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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV
611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011
www.nrc.gov

No. IV-08-033		July 30, 2008
CONTACT:	Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128	E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov
NRC CONDUCTING SPECIAL INSPECTION AT SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR PLANT Printable Version
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at the San Onofre nuclear plant in response to problems discovered with several electrical connections affecting plant safety systems. The plant, located near San Clemente, Ca., is operated by Southern California Edison Co. Following an incident in which maintenance personnel discovered a loose electrical connection on an emergency battery that rendered it inoperable, NRC inspectors identified similar problems that had occurred since 2005. These problems with electrical connections had affected the operability of an emergency diesel generator and batteries that are used to supply power during some accident conditions. “We are concerned about the number of failures and want to take a look at the way the licensee has responded to the issue,” said Region IV Administrator Elmo E. Collins. A three-person team of NRC specialists will review the circumstances related to the problems, the licensee’s root cause evaluation and the effect it had on the availability and reliability of plant safety systems. The team consists of the San Onofre senior resident inspector and two reactor inspectors from the NRC’s Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. �� The inspection will begin August 4 and is expected to take several days. The team will write a report about 30-45 days after completion of the inspection. The report will be available on the agency’s online document library at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html.
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