California utility fined for its handling of nuke canisters

SAN ONOFRE, Calif. – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is fining the Southern California Edison utility $116,000 for violations in its handling of nuclear canisters at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

The decision announced Monday in an online town hall meeting involves the transfer of radioactive nuclear waste containers from cooling pools to safer bunkers.

The violations were a failure to have a backup system in case a fuel canister was dropped and failure to notify the commission within 24 hours after a canister was at risk of being dropped into an 18-foot-deep (5.5-meter-deep) bunker rather than being lowered.

The Orange County Register reports Southern California Edison can dispute the fine but issued a statement indicating it would accept the penalty, saying the event should not have happened and takes full responsibility.

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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com