The cost of decommissioning the faulty San Onofre nuclear power in California is expected to reach $4.4 billion (£2.6bn), and will take at least 20 years.
The power plant in San Clemente, southern California, was closed down in 2012 after an inspection revealed significant damage to pipes that carried radioactive water. A failure of the plant’s steam generators led to a small amount of radioactive waste leaking.
The Orange County Registerreports that a full investigation into the accident has yet to be completed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
After the accident the CPUC commissioned a report into why the generators failed, while those at a similar plant – Diablo Canyon Power Plant, San Luis Obispo County – did not.
The report, carried out by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab researcher Robert Budnitz, showed the plant’s generators were made by different companies, and San Onofre’s two generators provided more power.
However, the parameters of the CPUC’s report mean further questions could not be answered.
Continue reading at San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant to Cost $4.bn to Dismantle
