Synopsis: Both the Diablo Canyon and the San Onofre nuclear plants were almost completely down last week, leaving California with virtually no nuclear energy. But there was no impact on the state's supply of electricity because of an excess of power available to the state. If the nuclear plant outages continue into the summer when energy demand is much greater, the state already has plans to provide replacement electricity and avoid any shortages.
California's two nuclear power plants — Diablo Canyon and San Onofre near San Clemente — were both virtually shut down last week, leaving the state with almost no nuclear energy at all. One of Diablo's two reactors was operating at 25% of capacity. San Onofre was completely closed.
And what was the effect? None.
It demonstrated in a real and pragmatic way that the state can do just fine without nuclear power, which is what many organizations and residents have been claiming for years, based on their facts, data, and theories. But with both Diablo and San Onofre down, it proves it in practice.
The outages had no effect because the state has access to plenty of electricity from other, existing sources, according to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the state's energy supply, often referred to as the "grid." In other words, CAISO has an excess of what it needs to supply residents, businesses, factories, and other users with electricity, should some of those sources, such as the nuclear plants, become unavailable, as has now happened.
This abundance of energy is due in large part to the advances made in the development of renewable energy in California, which has put the state ahead of all others in making available alternative energy sources. Nuclear energy, which used to account for some 30% of the state's power supply, now provides only 11%, based on the latest data of the California Energy Commission in 2010.
But that is now — when energy usage in the state is at or near its low point in the calendar year. What would happen if both nuclear plants were down in the coming summer when high temperatures require more energy for air conditioning and other uses.
CAISO is already prepared for that. In March, CAISO released a plan and issued a press release (Caiso / Summer Grid Outlook Complicated) outlining what steps it is taking to make up for the loss of San Onofre energy, should it extend into summer. Mainly, it plans to call back into service the Huntington Beach power plant units that had been scheduled for retirement. These are natural-gas fired units, and there are many more like them around the state that are slated to be closed. For one thing, all 19 coastal power plants in California, nearly all gas-fired, must begin to stop using bay, estuary, and ocean water to cool their generators by various target dates.
Almost all of them are old plants, and building other means of cooling — such as closed-cycle cooling by air or recycled water — would be costly for plants whose days may already be numbered because of their ages and outdated condition. The Morro Bay Power Plant, which operates on a very limited basis, must stop using what is called once-through cooling by 2015. It is the only one of the 19 plants that the CAISO has designated as not needed to meet the state's needs for electricity.
Those gas-fired plants release emissions containing particulate matter that can be very harmful to public health, especially for the young and elderly. But the limited amount of emissions, should the plants' operating lives be extended, is minimal compared to the threat from a nuclear plant accident, meltdown and radioactivity release resulting from an earthquake or terrorist attack.
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) stopped operating last January when unusual wear in steam generator tubes was discovered in one generating unit. The wear was blamed on a radioactive steam leak. Inspectors also found the same problem at the other unit.
Then a small fire in an electrical panel occurred in unit two about 10 days ago, and it was extinguished by the facility's fire department. The cause of the fire reportedly is still under investigation.
Salp (Courtesy Wikipedia)
|
One of Diablo Canyon's reactors was shut down last week for what was described by owner PG&E as routine refueling (radioactive fuel) and maintenance. And then the other reactor was reduced to 25% of its generating capacity when a large number of sea creatures called salp, which resemble jellyfish, clogged screens that cover channels, through which sea water flows into the plant to help cool its generators. The screens do not prevent crab and sea larvae from being carried into the plant in the sea water because they are too small for the screens to prevent their entry. Diablo Canyon is one of the biggest users of sea water for cooling, and the destruction of sea life.
PG&E did not respond to a request for information about the status of the Diablo Canyon plant or when it is expected to return to full operation.
Meanwhile, an estimated 200 protestors gathered at San Onofre State Park on April 29 to call again for decommissioning of the San Onofre plant, especially in the wake of the radioactive leak and fire.
"We want to increase awareness of the worst nuclear plant in the country as far as safety is concerned," said Gene Stone of Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE). "We just want people to wake up." Stone also is a leader of the Nuclear Free California Network (Energy Net), which was formed last year to work for closure of the state's two nuclear plants and to advocate the development of more renewable energy and the practice of conservation to save energy.
At the same time, Stone's group released this information about an investigation of the San Onofre plant:
The Japanese firm responsible for fabricating the failing steam generators at San Onofre announced on April 20 that it is undertaking analyses of the causes of the serious, unresolved safety problems there. In papers filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the firm, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, revealed that its reviews will extend at least through the end of August—ensuring that the troubled reactors will not be able to operate through the summer.
"The people of Southern California need answers to what exactly is happening at San Onofre. It doesn't exactly instill confidence in Southern California Edison (owner of the San Onofre plant) or the NRC that we have to learn about the process from the Japanese fabricator of the damaged steam generators," said Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth. "At the same time, Edison and the NRC must explain why Mitsubishi is planning on doing separate root cause analyses of the two reactors, and on a staggered schedule, when it is clear that the technical problems are shared at the steam generators of both reactors."
"It's clear that any plans Edison has for restarting either of the reactors this summer must be abandoned. It's essential that Edison immediately disclose what plans it has for initiating efficiency and conservation measures for the coming peak energy demand months of summer. Consumers can have safe and reliable energy without relying on these aging and dangerous nuclear reactors," said Moglen.
Mitsubishi's filing with the NRC reveals for the first time that the firm is responsible for conducting an analysis for San Onofre reactor unit 2, a review that is scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2012, and another analysis for reactor unit three, which is due by August 31, 2012. The company provided no justification for conducting separate analyses despite the fact that the steam generators at both reactors are experiencing the same rapid and unexplained wear which has already led to the release of radiation during the failure of a steam generator tube at unit three.
A recent study by nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen and Fairewinds Associates, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, provided the first detailed picture of the extent of design changes made by Southern California Edison at the San Onofre nuclear reactors. These changes likely led to the equipment degradation and failure that has forced the reactors offline, pending a thorough and comprehensive investigation, they said.
