Pressure test failures at San Onofre confined to one generator
An unprecedented equipment-test failure at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was confined to one generator, adding to diagnostic challenges at the sidelined power plant. Nuclear safety regulators examining the rapid degradation of the plant's steam generator tubing -- crucial to preventing radiation releases -- have made public more information about each of the plant's four massive replacement generators installed since 2009.
A new
web site dedicated to San Onofre's steam generator tubing problems identified one steam generator with in the southern, Unit 3 reactor as the most problematic.
All eight tubes that failed water pressure testing were located in that generator -- including the tube the developed a leak on Jan. 31, prompting the unscheduled shutdown of the plant's Unit 3 reactor. Safety regulators have described the failure of eight tubes at one power plant as unprecedented in the industry.
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"It could be that, if it's a manufacturing problem, that it's limited to a certain number of tubes," he said. "It could be that the whole mess of tubes is a problem. That's what they don't know."
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/10/pressure-test-failures-san-onofre-confined-one-gen/