Subject: Fw: CLARIFICATION REGARDING RECENT NEWS COVERAGE OF OUR PLANT STATUS
Subject: CLARIFICATION REGARDING RECENT NEWS COVERAGE OF OUR PLANT STATUS
To: All SONGS Employees and Contractors
Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) posted additional data on its website regarding our steam generator tubes for Units 2 and 3. This has generated an additional news cycle regarding our plant’s status. Specifically, the data reflects the type and amount of tube wear we have found on the steam generator tubes. The request for more information about the tube wear came from the public at our June 18 Augmented Inspection Team exit meeting with the NRC. The data includes various types of wear, and shows that most of the wear was less than 20 percent, which is far below the required plugging limit of 35 percent, and the majority of the wear is related to support structures.
While this is the first time this data has been released to the general public, it is the exact same data we have been providing to the NRC and our industry experts all along as we have conducted our inspections, analyses and our root cause evaluations. It provides the basis for our conservative decision-making and our approach moving forward for the repair plans.
Also yesterday, Friends of the Earth (FOE) released another study by Fairewinds Associates regarding issues with our steam generator tubes as compared to the industry. It is disheartening to see they are using “a leaked Southern California Edison document” as part of their source data, which is our first root cause evaluation for the Unit 3 steam generators. It is unfortunate, as this document is a critical piece of our return-to-service plans that are still being evaluated and challenged. As a reminder, it is against our company policy to release company documents to the media or other third-party stakeholders.
The station is in the middle of performing some additional inspections in the Unit 2 and 3 steam generators, and we will be conducting some equipment tests in Unit 2 soon. Each of us has an important role to play every day as nuclear professionals and must maintain our focus on our work. My congratulations to the station for a successful auxiliary boiler test and for the excellent work in maneuvering Unit 2 down through mid-loop. Safety always will be the first guiding principle behind all the work we do. With this in mind, we will always be successful. I’m proud to be a part of this team.
Pete
