SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, California |
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, California (Reuters) - Tubes that leaked radioactive steam at a California nuclear power plant, leading to an indefinite shutdown, were not properly tested by the manufacturer prior to installation, nuclear regulators told an overflowing public hearing on Monday.
The San Onofre Nuclear Power plant, located in Orange County, has been shut down since January 31, when plant operators discovered a small radiation leak in one of the plants' two units. The 2,150-megawatt plant is operated by Edison International's Southern California Edison utility.
The nuclear station is located halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego and is critical to the grid to import electricity into southern California. Its extended shutdown raises the possibility of rolling power outages as warmer temperatures boost demand for power over the summer.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday pinned the blame for the leak on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which it said underestimated the velocity of water and steam surging through the generator by a factor of three or four times in its computerized test of the equipment.
The tubes were also not held together tightly enough inside the troubled Unit 3 reactor, allowing them to rub against each other and causing premature wear, regulatory officials said.
Eight of the 129 tubes tested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission since the shutdown at the plant's troubled Unit 3 generator failed pressure testing, an unprecedented number, said Elmo Collins, regional administrator for the Region IV office of the NRC.
"We've never seen that before," he said of the test results. "This is a significant, serious safety issue."
Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Southern California Edison said they would not allow the plant to reopen until it was safe to do so, and declined to give a specific timeline for restarting the plant.
"Both San Onofre units will be shut down until repairs are made and we and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are satisfied it is safe to operate," said Pete Dietrich, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for the power plant.
While the regulatory commission has some authority over contractors such as Mitsubishi, Collins made it clear that it's Southern California Edison that will ultimately be held accountable if penalties are eventually levied by the government.
A crowd of over 400 people showed up for the hearing, many asking pointed questions about the competence of the Southern California Edison and the regulatory commission, as well as raising questions about the safety of nuclear power.
Dozens of environmentalists held a rally prior to the meeting with anti-nuclear signs, including one banner that read "Fukushima not again!" - a reference to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last year following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.
Damon Moglen, climate and energy director for green group Friends of the Earth, said that Southern California Edison made significant design changes to the plant without seeking an amendment to its existing license, as is required by the regulatory commission.
His group submitted petition to nuclear regulators on Monday to require the company to obtain a new license, complaining that in his view the commission was "asleep at the regulatory wheel."
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said its investigation into what went wrong at the plant was ongoing and promised to keep the public apprised of any new developments. A written report on the findings will be released next month, regulators said.
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: uk.reuters.com
British recipes for summer - made in Milan - Daily Telegraph
So I prepared a few delicate English salads, simply cooked asparagus with butter, a great courgette soup, and chicken with lots of herbs. When I cooked this at home, a sprig of bay, a twig of sage, a branch of rosemary and a big knob of butter made their way into the pot. The result is lovely, particularly if you have taken the chicken off the bone; that way it is quick to cook and the flavour of the herbs goes straight into the flesh.
Fish can be given a similar treatment. Rosemary and sage are suited to certain fish — I tend to go for thyme and parsley, occasionally a sprig of rosemary on bass and if there is ever some fennel leaf around, I’ll tuck it inside the cavity of any fish.
The samphire season is just starting, so it’s great to get in early. Here I’ve mixed it in with lentils. And finally, lemon posset, one of my favourite desserts.
The Dock Kitchen Cookbook: Real Home Cooking From Around the World by Stevie Parle (Quadrille, £25) is available for £16 plus £1.25 p&p from Telegraph Books. Call 0844 871 1515 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
California tobacco tax trails by razor-thin margin - AP - msnbc.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two weeks after California elections, a closely watched effort to impose a new tax on tobacco in the nation's most populous state remains too close to call.
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With 400,000 ballots outstanding as of Tuesday, the measure that would add a $1-a-pack cigarette tax is trailing by 17,500 votes, according to data compiled by the secretary of state.
Through a barrage of campaign ads, tobacco companies were able to cut support for the tax plan spearheaded by champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. Backing for the measure dwindled from a two-thirds majority in March down to a dead heat on Election Day.
Opponents raised $47 million to fight the proposal, dramatically outspending supporters, who raised $12 million.
Since the June 5 voting, Proposition 29 has seemed headed for defeat by razor-thin margins, generally trailing by less than a percentage point.
In election night returns, the proposal, which would in part fund cancer research, was losing by tens of thousands of votes, prompting many to assume it was dead. But supporters have refused to concede defeat.
"Last week, someone was thinking about having a press conference and conceding, and everybody else said, 'Are you out of your mind?'" said Stan Glantz of the University of California, San Francisco's Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.
Glantz has been running statistical analyses of the returns since the polls closed and said the chances of a reversal are "unlikely but not impossible."
"At this point, everybody's just biting their fingernails," he said.
Tobacco tax opponents are also watching returns, but with a more optimistic eye.
"We're not expecting any huge swings, and we are anticipating that our lead will hold," said Beth Miller, spokeswoman for the No on 29 campaign.
In order for the tax to squeak through, 54 percent of the remaining ballots would have to favor the measure, said Contra Costa Registrar of Voters Steve Weir.
Weir added that if the margin continued to tighten, it was conceivable that California would hold its first statewide re-count for a ballot measure.
"For there to be less than a half a percent spread, that's very, very unusual," he said.
Observers around the nation have also been watching the contest. Smoking foes say that Big Tobacco's success in branding the tax as a government boondoggle could reverberate in other states.
Election officials have until July 6 to report final results. Another California tobacco tax measure lost by a thin margin in 2006.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com
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