No. IV-08-004 

Contact: Victor Dricks 

Phone: (817) 860-8128 

 January 14, 2008 

 E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov 

NRC ORDERS CHANGES AT SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION 

 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered Southern California Edison Co. to 

make changes after finding that an individual falsified records for five years to show they made 

hourly fire patrols when they did not do so at the San Onofre nuclear plant near San Clemente, 

Calif. 

 The NRC’s Confirmatory Order – agreed to by Southern California Edison – requires the 

company to develop special training for its employees that emphasizes the importance of 

maintaining a strong nuclear safety culture to prevent deliberate misconduct by workers. 

 The terms of the Confirmatory Order were agreed to following Alternative Dispute 

Resolution (ADR), which uses a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority to assist the 

NRC and its licensees in resolving differences regarding enforcement actions. 

 The Confirmatory Order also requires the company to expand its corporate ethics training 

for managers, supervisors and employees; develop special training to prevent deliberate 

misconduct; conduct an independent safety culture assessment by an independent contractor; and 

monitor the effectiveness of its corrective action efforts. 

 “The order contains a comprehensive set of actions designed to improve performance at 

San Onofre by emphasizing the importance of a strong nuclear safety culture,” said NRC Region 

IV Administrator Elmo E. Collins. “The NRC has confirmed several instances of willful 

violations at San Onofre during the past year. The NRC depends on a good faith effort of 

nuclear power plant workers to follow regulations. Willful violations by workers cannot be 

tolerated.” 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region IV 

611 Ryan Plaza Drive – Suite 400 

Arlington, Texas 76011-4005 
 In the latest case, an investigation by the NRC determined that a fire protection specialist 

provided inaccurate information about hourly fire watch rounds they were supposed to make 

while working the midnight shift at the plant from April 2001 to December 2006. The missed 

rounds had low safety significance because of other fire defense measures in place, but the NRC 

was concerned at the lack of management supervision over fire watches during the midnight shift 

for five years. 

 The NRC has also substantiated several other instances of willful violations at SONGS in 

the past year. A radiographer deliberately failed to adhere to the terms of a radiation work 

permit; a technician willfully failed to control the work activities of an unqualified technician 

performing work on safety-related equipment, which rendered a safety system inoperable for a 

short time; and two willful violations have been documented for security-related matters. 

 Copies of the confirmatory order are available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . The NRC also includes significant enforcement 

actions at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement.html . 

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