Heavy Wear on New Tubes at San Onofre
Damage is unusual for virtually new tubing
Thursday, Feb 2, 2012 | Updated 2:19 PM PDT
AP
Federal regulators say unusual wear has been found on dozens of virtually new tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California's San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant.
The disclosure Thursday comes just two days after a tube leak at the plant's other unit prompted operators to shut down its reactor as a precaution. A tiny amount of radiation could have escaped from that plant, but officials say workers and the public were not endangered.
The problems at Unit 2 were discovered during inspections of a steam generator. That equipment was replaced recently in both units of the twin-reactor plant.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks says the damage is unusual for virtually new tubing.
The plant is off line for inspections and repairs.
Copyright NBC San Diego / Associated Press
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