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Nuclear leaks force closure of two reactors in US

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The United States has announced plans to shut down two nuclear power reactors in the State of California after leaks were found in the system.

US public utility company, Edison International, announced on Friday that it will permanently close two reactor units at its San Onofre plant in Southern California, ending deliberations over whether they could be repaired after a leak was discovered early last year.

The nuclear plant had a “defective redesign and could no longer operate as intended,” while modifications proved to be “unsafe and posed a danger to the eight million people living within 50 miles of the plant,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Upgrades were made to the two units in 2009 and 2010 at a cost of approximately USD 2.1 billion, while having been designed to last 20 years.

However, after only two years of operation, technicians failed to accommodate for vibrations inherent in the nuclear equipment, which damaged many of the 9,727 heavy allow tubes in the steam generators. Moreover, an 82-gallon-a-day leak was discovered in one of the reactors.

Critics also accused Edison International of misleading regulators by hiding risks at the nuclear plant in order to avoid a full safety review and public hearings.

The incident came after US federal officials started an investigation into the Shaw Modular Solutions facility, a factory manufacturing parts for nuclear plants, alleging falsification of records and quality control rules – though the episode may not be related to the San Onofre incident.

This is while on April 1, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DFNSB) said the most contaminated nuclear waste site in the United States, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the US state of Washington, could explode at any moment, posing a serious threat to lives in the area.

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