DANA POINT (AP) — San Onofre is known for its beachside nuclear power plant but an Orange County company thinks the ocean itself can make power.

The Los Angeles Times says JD Products of Fountain Valley won federal permission last fall to study the feasibility of wave energy. The company wants to place thousands of generators a mile off San Onofre State Beach.

They’d convert waves off the famous San Diego County surfing beach into perhaps 3,000 megawatts of electricity.

General Manager Chong Hun Kim says he wants to sell the electricity to Southern California Edison, which owns the nearby nuclear plant. However, approval of the project would be years away.

Some environmental groups, surfers and fishermen fear it could harm marine life and reduce the waves.

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