Washington, D.C. -- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today issued the statement below following the announcement by Southern California Edison of the permanent closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Senator Boxer said: "I am greatly relieved that the San Onofre nuclear plant will be closed permanently. This nuclear plant had a defective redesign and could no longer operate as intended. Modifications to the San Onofre nuclear plant were unsafe and posed a danger to the eight million people living within 50 miles of the plant. After a leak of radiation from the steam generator tubes, I became increasingly alarmed that Southern California Edison had misled regulators by minimizing the scope of the changes made at the nuclear plant to avoid a full safety review and public hearings. That is why I have asked the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the California Public Utility Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to investigate. I want to thank the community organizations that came forward with information which demonstrated that the plant redesign presented a great risk to the public. Now that the San Onofre nuclear plant will be permanently shut down, it is essential that this nuclear plant be safely decommissioned and does not become a continuing liability for the community."
