The Worst Yet to Come? Why Nuclear Experts Are Calling Fukushima a Ticking Time-Bomb

[JDPriestly]

1. San Onofre down but may open in June.

The domed plant just south of San Clemente has been closed since Jan. 31, when a steam generator tube in the plant's reactor Unit 3 began leaking, releasing a small amount of radioactive steam. Unit 2 was already offline for planned maintenance.

Since then, more than 500 of the plant's nearly 39,000 tubes in both reactor units have been taken out of service due to excessive wear.

San Onofre's four steam generators were replaced within the last several years at a cost of $671 million, an expense that is to be recovered from ratepayers.

Pickett characterized the problem as a "manufacturing defect" but said Edison has yet to determine whether the issue was caused by design problems or by the way the equipment was put together.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0503-san-onofre-20120504-40,0,2154453.story