SoCal Edison Accused Of Misleading Feds About Dangers At San Onofre Power Plant

SAN CLEMENTE (CBS) — An environmental group is accusing Southern California Edison of misleading federal regulators about changes at the San Onofre nuclear power plant, which likely damaged tubing that carries radioactive water, according to The Associated Press.

A report by Fairewinds Associates says a more detailed study on alloy tubing in the plant's steam generators must be conducted before power is restarted. Federal investigators visited the plant earlier this month after three generator tubes failed pressure testing.

The plant has "experienced extraordinarily rapid degradation of their steam generator tubes," the report states. It also says the damage raises the risk of an accident that could release radioactivity, as the tubes provide an additional barrier to prevent the release of radioactive steam.

The group says SCE misled authorities about changes to both design and equipment.

SCE said through a spokesperson that the company would not comment until the report had been reviewed.

Unit  3's reactor was shut down indefinitely after a leak was discovered in its steam-generating tubes while unit 2 was already offline for scheduled maintenance.

Southern California residents were warned last week that they may also face a power crunch just as the summer heat begins to set in later this year if repairs at the plant are delayed.