The San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California may come back online as soon as June, but the problems at the facility are serious enough that it may never again reach full capacity.

The plant between Los Angeles and San Diego has been down for the past three months, and officials are still investigating the problems that forced it to close Jan. 31 after releasing a small amount of radioactive steam.

Its majority owner, Southern California Edison Co., is preparing to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval to bring the Unit 2 reactor back online in early to mid-June and the Unit 3 reactor three weeks later, spokesman Stephen Pickett said yesterday.

That would help mitigate concerns about meeting peak electricity demand in Southern California during the summer (Greenwire, May 3).

The reactors would run at reduced power, perhaps at 50 to 80 percent of their normal capacity. They would have to be taken offline for inspections a few months later (Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times, May 4). -- AS