As officials discuss reopening the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant, questions are arising over who should pay for the needed repairs.

"One, there's the issue of can they do it, can the units be repaired? And if they can, then there's a question of whether it's cost effective," said Mark Pocta, program manager for the California Public Utilities Commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates. "Safety's the first issue, and then there's cost effectiveness."

Repairs for the plant could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

At the same time, it has been expensive for the two utilities that own the plant to compensate for power disparities since San Onofre shut down. As of June 20, Southern California Edison had spent $117 million, and San Diego Gas & Electric had spent $25 million.

In the next few months, Edison said, it hopes to restart one of the two shuttered reactors, though likely at a reduced capacity. Through June, San Onofre inspections and repairs had cost Edison $48 million. It hopes to recoup some of the costs through insurance and a manufacturer warranty for the steam generators.

Ratepayer watchdogs reject the suggestion that customers should shoulder the costs. Ratepayers are currently paying for plant operating costs during the outage and during a previous steam generator replacement.

Nuclear regulators shut down the two reactors earlier this year when unusual wear to some of the tubing caused radioactive steam to escape (Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22). -- WW