California’s San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Closing for Good
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Stockbyte/Thinkstock(ROSEMEAD, Calif.) — The problem-plagued San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California is closing.
Southern California Edison (SCE), the utility that runs the plant, announced the decision on Friday.
“SONGS [the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station] has served this region for over 40 years, but we have concluded that the continuing uncertainty about when or if SONGS might return to service was not good for our customers, our investors, or the need to plan for our region’s long-term electricity needs,” Ted Craver, the chairman and CEO of Edison International, the parent company of SCE, said in a statement.
The nuclear power plant effectively has been shut down since January of last year, after operators found a leak in a tube that carries radioactive water.
Its closing will result in a loss of about 1,100 employees over the next year, with the majority of the layoffs expected to occur in 2013, SCE said.
“Looking ahead, we think that our decision to retire the units will eliminate uncertainty and facilitate orderly planning for California’s energy future,” SCE president Ron Litzinger said in a statement.
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