Re: [californiadisasters] Minor, Non-Nuclear ‘Emergency’ at San Onofre

This is exactly the type of thing that makes me feel pretty comfortable with
nuclear power.

If our cars were this safe, if our airlines were this safe....

Notice that this all-but-meaningless event still had to be reported to the
NRC. This is about on the level of having to go to the nearest CHP office to
get a clearance when you've found a tire a few pounds low and have
re-inflated it (and having to report it without even having been stopped for
it).

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Noyes" <kimnoyes@gmail.com>
To: "CaliforniaDisasters" <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 11:49 AM
Subject: [californiadisasters] Minor, Non-Nuclear 'Emergency' at San Onofre

Minor, non-nuclear 'emergency' at San Onofre July 16th, 2011, 2:56 pm ·
posted by Pat Brennan, O.C. Register science, environment editorOne of
several redundant security systems involved in monitoring the perimeter of
the San Onofre nuclear
plant<http://www.sce.com/PowerandEnvironment/PowerGeneration/SanOnofreNuclea
rGeneratingStation/default.htm?goto=songs>stopped
working for 45 minutes early Saturday, triggering the declaration of
an "unusual event" that is considered the lowest level of emergency.

Southern California Edison <http://www.sce.com/default.htm>, the plant's
operators, did not release details of the incident or describe the type of
equipment involved, but Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said the system was
not related to nuclear operations and no part of the plant's perimeter was
left unguarded.

"At no time was there an issue of plant security or safety," Alexander said.
"At no time was the plant unsafe or the public unprotected. Nevertheless,
when you're talking about a nuclear plant, you want all of the multiple
redundant systems working all the time."

The "unusual event" declaration required immediate notification of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he said.

"The senior NRC resident inspector is on the scene, observing how we handled
this," Alexander said.

The system stopped working at 6:12 a.m. Although it was restored within 45
minutes, the plant remained on unusual event status until 9:50 a.m., he
said.

Edison officials were still trying to determine the cause of the failure
Saturday afternoon.

"We continue to run diagnostics and investigate what the cause of it was,"
Alexander said. "And we don't have anything we can convey thus far on that."

Unusual events have happened before at San Onofre, and at other nuclear
plants, he said.

It is the lowest of four emergency classifications. The highest of them
would indicate a release of radiation.
Source:
http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2011/07/16/minor-non-nuclear-emergency-at-
san-onofre/132533/

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