Environmental and anti-nuclear activists gathered at Southern California Edison headquarters in Irvine on Wednesday calling for the San Onofre nuclear plant to be decommissioned and for the utility to implement more extensive conservation programs.
The plant has been shut down for nearly four months due to safety concerns over excessive wear on tubes in the plant's newly installed steam generators. Edison has yet to publicly say what missteps led to the wear -- which officials said was occurring because the flow of steam caused some tubes to vibrate excessively and rub against each other and support structures.
Edison officials previously suggested that running the plant at a reduced capacity might solve the problem by reducing the flow of steam. The activists stated in a letter presented to Edison that the proposal was "a dangerous experiment" and called for the permanent shutdown of the plant.
