Federal regulators found employees at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear power plant falsified fire patrol and other records more than once. In response, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered the utility to expand its corporate ethics training for managers, supervisors, and employees. The NRC January 14 also required the utility to develop special training to prevent deliberate misconduct, order a safety culture assessment by an independent contractor, and monitor the effectiveness of its corrective actions. “Willful violations by workers cannot be tolerated,” stated NRC Region IV administrator Elmo 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,” he added. The latest incidence was falsifying documents that showed utility staff making fire patrol rounds on a regular basis, although they did not occur, the NRC noted. Other violations, according to regulators, include when “a radiographer deliberately failed to adhere to the terms of a radiation work permit and 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.” In addition, “two willful violations have been documented for security-related matters,” according to the agency. Edison stated that it “agrees with the NRC that behavior by workers that violate site and NRC requirements cannot be tolerated.” It added, “We believe the extensive program we have already begun to implement will help strengthen site worker commitment to Edison’s standards of conduct and those of the NRC.” During a December 10 state Senate Energy Utilities & Communications Committee informational hearing on nuclear plants--held in response to political pressures to rethink California’s ban on building nukes--Edison did not mention this ongoing problem with federal regulators. According to witnesses, as well as Edison’s own briefing papers, the utility stressed the “green” footprint of the nuclear plant, namely that its ongoing operations emit little greenhouse gases. San Onofre is “Southern California’s largest source of virtually carbon-free generation and enough to serve approximately 1.5 million Southern California households at a point in time,” reiterated Edison when asked about the NRC order this week. Rochelle Becker, executive director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility and Vice-President of the Sierra Club National Radiation Committee, replied, “We cannot trust this utility to admit a problem and at least try to convince the state it is being corrected, rather they lie, by omission, and our regulators do not seem to call them on it.” Edison is San Onofre’s primary owner. San Diego Gas & Electric owns 20 percent, although it attempted to divest its portion in the last few years. However, the California Public Utilities Commission would not allow SDG&E to divest. Riverside owns about 2 percent.