Faulty Model and Design Changes Led San Onofre to Shut, NRC Says
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Faulty computer analysis and manufacturing changes appear to have caused excessive wear in steam generator tubes at Edison International’s San Onofre nuclear plant in California, according to federal regulators.
Edison altered the way tubes were assembled at its Unit 3 reactor, where support structures failed to keep some pipes from rubbing together and degrading prematurely, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials said at a public meeting. Inspectors found much more wear on Unit 3 compared with the Unit 2 reactor, which didn’t use the same assembly design, the regulators said. The reactors have been shut since January.