The majority owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California has requested a public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss potential safety violations connected to an Aug. 3 mishap in transfer of spent reactor fuel.
“As discussed, SCE has decided to use Pre-decisional Enforcement Conference (PEC} for the two apparent violations that are being considered for escalated enforcement action,” Al Bates, regulatory and oversight manager for Southern California Edison (SCE), wrote in a Dec. 10 email message to Janine Katanic, a senior health physicist at the NRC. The document was posted Monday to the agency website.
A predecisional conference was one option the NRC gave Southern California Edison in a Nov. 28 letter that laid out two apparent violations of federal regulations identified in a special inspection conducted following the incident. The conference would be open to the public, providing greater transparency than the other option, alternative dispute resolution, a spokesman for the utility said Monday.
The conference has not yet been scheduled, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said Monday. They generally take about two hours and allow agency staff to question a company about its own review of an incident and subsequent corrective measures.
Following SONGS’ permanent closure in 2013, Southern California Edison contracted energy technology company Holtec International to move the remainder of the plant’s spent fuel into dry storage. On Aug. 3, one canister went off-target and was hung up for about an hour until it could be placed into its storage slot. In its special inspection report last month, the NRC identified two potential violations that could lead to fines or other forms of escalated enforcement: The utility did not ensure it had additional gear on hand to prevent a canister drop of up to 18 feet and did not report the situation to the regulator within the required 24-hour period.
An enforcement ruling would generally be issued 30 to 45 days after the predecisional conference, Dricks said.
