San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Shut Down for Radioactive Gas Leak

The San Onofre nuclear power plant is located just north of San Diego, California. It was shut down on Wednesday after a small amount of radioactive gas leaked out of one of the steam generator tubes. A spokesman for Southern California Edison, who operates the nuclear power plant, said that the level of radiation was “barely measureable,” but the closure of the plant was done as a precaution. Gil Alexander said that there was no danger to the plant workers or to the public at any time.

The steam generator tubes were for reactor #3 and the entire steam system for that reactor was just replaced back in December 2010. The steam system is not supposed to be exposed to radiation, so plant officials said that there will be an investigation to find out why these new tubes leaked.

San Onofre nuclear power plant is just one of many reactors in the United States that are coming under intense scrutiny after the nuclear disaster in Japan. This power plant is right in the middle of the most active earthquake region in the United States and it sits right on the coast. Camp Pendleton, which is next door to the nuclear power plant, houses more than 38,000 Marine families. There are also 32,000 people that work at the military base. Should a significant nuclear event happen at San Onofre, these people would be in immediate danger.

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant melted down in Japan after a massive earthquake and tsunami, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a report saying that there are 96 reactors in the southern and central regions of the United States that are more susceptible to earthquake damage that was previously thought. It is estimated that there are more than 120 million people in the United States who live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant.

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