The last time the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conducted a forum to sound out the public on what to do about the crippled San Onofre nuclear power plant, its members got an earful from hundreds of rowdy plant workers, anti-nuclear activists and plant supporters at the Dana Point St. Regis Hotel Monarch Beach ballroom.

The operators of the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Doheny Beach have proven to be less accommodating. A long-awaited NRC public hearing with plant operator Southern California Edison, scheduled for its ballroom this week, was abruptly cancelled. The hotel begged off, citing the prospect of 500 agitated citizens descending on the facility and disrupting the DoubleTree’s ambience.

NRC spokesman Victor Dricks e-mailed the Los Angeles Times that, “The Doubletree Hotel was concerned that the meeting might be disruptive to their other guests and declined to host the meeting.”

No new date was scheduled.

The San Onofre plant has been mothballed since January, when a leak of radioactive steam from one of its generators prompted a shutdown and review of the facility. Hundreds of tubes used to cool the plant’s two nuclear reactors were found to be damaged and a preliminary investigation blamed the problem on engineering mistakes. Faulty mathematical assumptions were said to have caused excessive vibration, which damaged the tubes.

The hearing would have addressed Edison’s expressed intention to reopen the plant soon, and perhaps touch on issues of cost and safety. Edison has proposed passing on much of the cost of repair and providing alternative power to ratepayers, rather than shareholders.     

San Onofre supplied electricity to 1.4 million homes in Southern California before the breakdown. Edison proposed in October that one of the reactors be restarted and run at 70% power for five months to see what’s shaking. Nuclear watchdog groups are skeptical of an experimental approach that they say could get out of hand in a hurry.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Nuke Crowd Has OC Hotel Nervous, San Onofre Meeting Scrubbed (by Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds Attend Contentious Forum on San Onofre's Future (by Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times)

Edison Wants to Restart San Onofre Nuclear Plant for 5 Months to See What’s Still Shakin’ (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)