Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Extensive Wear Found in Recently Replaced SONGS Steam Generator

Blog Post: Extensive Wear Found in Recently Replaced SONGS Steam Generator

Just two years after it was replaced, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported significant wear in a steam generator at California’s San Onofre Nuclear Plant.

Earlier in the week, San Onofre unit 3 was taken out of service because of a leaking steam generator tube that resulted in a small release of radioactive steam into an auxiliary building. On Thursday initial reports from NRC inspectors also outlined wear in similar equipment at neighboring unit 2. During a scheduled outage for maintenance and inspections, the NRC found the thickness of two tubes in one of unit 2's two steam generators had been worn away by a third. Of 9,700 tubes in the steam generator, 69 were found to be at least 20 percent worn, and 800 tubes were at least 10 percent worn.

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