Re “Did the San Onofre nuclear plant really have to be closed?” (April 6): The answer to the question posed in this letter to the editor is “yes.” Here’s why: San Onofre leaked deadly ionizing radiation into the atmosphere. It would have leaked more if it was not shut down immediately. The so-called minor leaks were caused by “water hammers” traveling at more than 3,000 miles per hour through the plumbing inside the plant’s steam generators.
The horror of this story is that Edison was warned in advance that this would happen. In fact, the exact cause of failure was predicted by Southern California Edison’s own engineers in 2004, when they saw the plans for the replacement parts. Please read that last sentence again.
— Charles Langley, La Mesa