Southern California Edison (SCE), a unit of Edison International (EIX), is going to initiate a major construction program at Unit 3 of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California. As a part of this, the company is shutting down one of its two reactor units at the 1,080-megawatt plant this fall.
The construction project entails the replacement of the plant’s steam generators, refueling the reactor and maintenance works at the plant. The company expects the construction outage at the plant to last for three to four months.
Each of the new steam generators being installed at the Unit 3 are 65 feet tall, 22 feet in diameter and weigh 640 tons. These steam generators produce steam that drives the plant’s turbines and produces electricity to serve an average of 1.4 million households.
The project is expected to generate 1,000 temporary jobs in the region while injecting about $300 million into the local economy, in the form of wages, equipment, material and services purchased from local businesses.
Edison’s decision to replace steam generators at the San Onofre plant was guided by a cost-benefit assessment, which revealed customers savings of roughly $1 billion during the plant’s current license period through 2022.
Last autumn, SCE had replaced the steam generators in Unit 2 of San Onofre plant. However, the company expects the Unit 2 to operate normally during the construction of Unit 3.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved Southern California Edison’s steam generator replacement plans in December 2005 after a detailed review, which confirmed the project would benefit utility customers. The company estimates the total project costs of $671 million to be shared among plant owners SCE, San Diego Gas & Electric and the City of Riverside.
Construction work and other plant operations are continuously monitored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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