Dive Summary:
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has indefinitely delayed the decision to restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant.
- The recent delay is the latest in a series of delayed ruling dates; on its website, the NRC only said that the new restart decision date was "to be determined."
- Co-owned by Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and the city of Riverside, Calif., the power plant was shut down in January 2012 after a radiation leak led to the unearthing of damage to pipes carrying radioactive wastewater.
From the article:
Last week, the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board sided with environmentalists who have called for lengthy hearings on the restart plan after concluding that firing up the plant would allow Edison "to operate beyond the scope of its existing license."
A statement from SCE spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre noted that NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane indicated earlier that no decision would be made until at least mid-June on the company's request to change its operating license to run at lower power.