Questions & Answers
Could you explain the purpose of this website?
San Onofre personnel asked how we could provide more and faster information about what is really happening at the plant. One rather obvious answer was to provide our neighbors with a website where we could answer any questions we heard and provide instant updates on plant developments.
This website is among numerous steps we are taking to meet our responsibility to provide timely, accurate plant information to our neighbors.
Some worry that SONGS sits next to an earthquake fault that has been overlooked by regulators. Is that true?
SONGS was designed to retain its ability to safely shut down during a significant nearby earthquake without a release of radiation. Like virtually all aspects of SONGS’ operation, its ability to withstand a major earthquake is heavily regulated. All U.S. nuclear plants are designed to withstand earthquakes of a magnitude equivalent to or greater than the largest known earthquake in their region. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was built to withstand ground acceleration of .67 times the force of gravity, roughly the equivalent of an earthquake of approximately magnitude 7.0 at a distance of 5 miles from the plant.
Isn’t nuclear energy the most dangerous way to generate electricity?
Actually, there has never been a nuclear accident in the U.S. that has endangered the health or welfare of the public. Unfortunately, that cannot be said of other forms of power generation. The most serious U.S. nuclear industry accident occurred in March 1979 at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and resulted in no injuries.
Didn’t the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine prove the danger of nuclear generation?
The Chernobyl accident was caused by two circumstances that have never existed in the U.S. nuclear program –a seriously flawed reactor design and inadequate personnel training. U.S. nuclear power engineering and plant operations have proved safe and reliable. In addition, a new generation of reactors now in development will be even safer.
Are nuclear plants vulnerable to terrorist attack?
Nuclear plants are among the nation’s most secure facilities. SCE is continually making San Onofre even more secure, adding new technologies and practices that further safeguard the facility. When it comes to protecting San Onofre from possible security threats, SCE spares no expense and leaves nothing to chance.
Isn’t nuclear power more expensive than other forms of generation because of plant construction cost?
It is true that nuclear power plants typically cost more to construct than their non-nuclear counterparts. However, the cost of producing power at nuclear plants is much lower. Therefore, the total cost utility customers pay over time for nuclear power can be much less than other forms of generation. Nuclear power is very competitively priced.
Nuclear power proponents sometimes claim nuclear plants are emission-free, but some aspects of nuclear-generation create emissions, don’t they?
Yes. Mining and refining uranium ore, plant construction, transportation of plant resources and other activities create what are sometimes called “life cycle” emissions. However, types of emissions within the nuclear power industry are similar to those of wind and solar generation facilities.
Why do we continue depending on nuclear power when smaller renewable power projects could meet all of our needs?
SCE is committed to the maximum reasonable use of renewable energy, purchasing more wind, solar, biomass and geothermal generation than any U.S. utility. However, renewable generation technologies cannot replace proven, large-scale, reliable power sources such as nuclear because of predictability, costs and availability. For example, the output of California wind projects is strongest when customers need the least power, at night, and weakest when customers need the most power, during hot afternoons. That’s one reason the 24/7 generating capacity of a nuclear plant is so valuable.
If nuclear generation is safe and beneficial, why are so many opposed to its continued use?
Much of the opposition to nuclear power is based on inaccurate information and preconceptions. Public-opinion research reveals changing attitudes about this source of energy. For example, a survey of 1,200 Californians conducted in July 2008 found the following:
- 71 percent of respondents in SCE’s service territory approve of nuclear generation.
- 66 percent of respondents in SCE’s territory believe the state’s two nuclear plants are safe.
What is SCE’s response to claims that employees face retaliation when they report safety concerns?
We are concerned if even one of our more than 2,000 plant workers reports this fear, regardless of the source of the fear, because the freedom to report safety concerns is critical to maintaining a safe workplace.
SCE is proud of San Onofre’s record in this area. During the past 20 years just two claims of retaliation have been upheld by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, both involving misconduct by contractors that SCE uncovered and reported to the commission for investigation.
SCE has a strict non-retaliation policy. If supervisory personnel retaliate against employees who report safety concerns, it is a terminable offense. All of our non-union employees are required annually to complete ethics certification during which they re-read the company’s anti-retaliation policy and are asked to report any instances of retaliation they have experienced or witnessed during the previous year.
How does SCE respond to residents who are concerned that SONGS’ recently reported regulatory performance violations might mean the plant is unsafe?
Although the plant operates safely, we are not satisfied with some aspects of worker performance and are working hard to match rising industry standards. All work rule violations at a nuclear plant are taken very seriously, whether they are major or minor and even if they do not directly affect the plant’s safe operation. Recently publicized violations were classified as having low-level safety significance. Nevertheless, we are responding to them as aggressively as we would address high-level safety violations.
Again, by all outside evaluations SONGS operates safely. However, new management was brought in two years ago to raise the performance level of workers and contractors because in this industry the performance standard today is always higher than it was yesterday.
Some residents are concerned that the recent false siren alarms reflect a lack of overall emergency preparedness by SONGS and the communities that surround the plant. What is the plant’s view?
Despite the hard work that has been done for years by plant and community personnel who lead emergency readiness planning, we recognize the need to do more, including to provide more information about what to do if the community alert siren system should sound. We are working community leaders on ways to better serve our neighbors in this area. The health and safety of the public are the highest priority of SONGS management.
Nuclear Industry Facts
U.S. nuclear plants have no smokestacks or operating emissions because they burn nothing. They displace almost 650 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. This is nearly as much carbon dioxide as is released from all U.S. passenger cars.
Reasons the use of nuclear power is viewed positively by many states include (1) the growing public awareness of its environmental benefits, (2) rising demand for electricity including the anticipated conversion of many vehicles to plug-in technologies, (3) the abundance of nuclear fuel in stable nations friendly to the U.S., (4) the perceived safety of nuclear power, and (5) the need for large "heavy" generating equipment that provides inertia and stabilizes the grid as increasing amounts of small, intermittent renewable energy units are added.
A uranium fuel pellet the size of a finger tip can provide as much energy as a ton of coal, 126 gallons of oil and 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
SONGS' 84-acre site produces 2,200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 1.4 million average homes at a point in time. To generate an equal amount of power with solar energy would require 64,000 acres and wind energy would require 59,000 acres.
Nuclear power plants produce very small amounts of spent fuel. If all the electricity a person used during their lifetime came from a nuclear plant, their part of the plant's spent fuel would fit into one soft drink can.
There is a broad scientific consensus that deep geologic repositories could provide safe, long-term storage of the nation's spent nuclear fuel.