LOS ANGELES - The tab for the long-running crisis at the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California has hit at least $165 million, and it would cost $25 million more to get one of the damaged reactors running at reduced power, officials said Tuesday.
Financial records released by Edison International — the parent company of operator Southern California Edison — provided a sober assessment of the troubles at the seaside plant, where malfunctioning steam generators damaged scores of tubes that carry radioactive water.
The plant has not produced power since January.
In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Edison International Chairman Ted Craver left open the possibility that the heavily damaged generators in the Unit 3 reactor might be scrapped. It's also possible the plant will never return to its full output of electricity, unless the four generators are replaced.
The details were announced two days before the state Public Utilities Commission is expected to consider opening a probe of costs related to the long-running shutdown. If either of the reactors remains offline for nine months, Edison could face a separate commission review that would examine if customers should be paying for a plant that doesn't generate power, officials said.
Southern California Edison has piled up $48 million in inspection and repair costs through June 30 — a bill that is growing steadily. And $117 million has been needed so far to buy power to replace the electricity that the plant, located between San Diego and Los Angeles, would otherwise be producing.
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