San Onofre (SONGS)

[UncaBuffalo]

I'm new and not entirely certain where this question belongs, but I've been invited to take the ANPEO test at SONGS.  I'm trying to determine two things:

                     1.  Are all the travel expenses even worth taking the test? (I live in Kansas, and will have to personally pay for 2 trips
                          to San Clemente providing I pass the tests.)
                     2.  Can I afford to live in southern California if I'm making $27.50/hr?  Or is that the equivalent to living a tent on the
                          beach?  (Which doesn't necessarily sound bad, I just don't think it's legal)

I've heard lots of great things about the area, but I haven't heard much about the company.  Is it a good company to work for?  I've read through the old posts here, and there aren't too many recent posts with that sort of info.  Any advice or suggestions would be a tremendous help. Thanks!  

A couple of years ago, I was testing/interviewing around the country.  SONGS was on my short-list, but I chose not to test there when I found out they wouldn't pay travel.  

I recommend avoiding SCE & their lowball attitude...but you need to weigh how this job opportunity fits into your career plan.  You may find it's worth taking the financial hit now, if you will end up where you want to be in a few years...




(When I was interviewing, it was easy to be picky...most of the utilities were hiring.  I'm sure it's a harder decision in the current economy.  GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR JOB SEARCH!) 

[milo124]

  2.  Can I afford to live in southern California if I'm making $27.50/hr?  Or is that the equivalent to living a tent on the
                           beach?  (Which doesn't necessarily sound bad, I just don't think it's legal)


This is funny since the site has actually opened up one of the parking lots (near the beach) during outages for campers (no charge).

[Brett LaVigne]

A couple of years ago, I was testing/interviewing around the country.  SONGS was on my short-list, but I chose not to test there when I found out they wouldn't pay travel.  

I recommend avoiding SCE & their lowball attitude...but you need to weigh how this job opportunity fits into your career plan.  You may find it's worth taking the financial hit now, if you will end up where you want to be in a few years...




(When I was interviewing, it was easy to be picky...most of the utilities were hiring.  I'm sure it's a harder decision in the current economy.  GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR JOB SEARCH!) 

Also, take a look at the NRC findings lately. I think they called it a "Chilled" work environment. Low pay and they tend to not care about worker concerns. Check it all out before deciding to go.

[NuclearPrincess]

 

$27.50/hour on a 40-hour week grosses $1100.  After deductions it will net less than $700/week.  Good luck enjoying a high quality of life living near SONGS on $700/week.  Then again, with 180+ day outages there is plenty of opportunity for OT.

I doubt I could survive in Southern California and pay off my $50k worth of student loans with that salary.  Also, I really can't afford the expense of both trips right now.  So, from an economic standpoint, I think I'll have to wait until they're hiring at a later date

[Brett LaVigne]

"Chilled" was from the report, very ugly! I hope this will be the bottom for them and they can begin the road to recovery. Otherwise, there might not be any new postitions for anyone at that plant. Not good for SONGS...Not good for the industry.

[HydroDave63]

Full pockets.  Fixed plant.  Good thing.

One group of people who might be dismayed by that level of non-performance will be the shareholders when the 1Q10 earnings reports come out. If EIX doesn't beat the 71 cents/share forecast, coupled with the recent downgrade on Mission Energy bonds, I wouldn't be too surprised to see EIX get a bond downgrade below the current BBB-. Should that downgrade transpire with Shutdown Often Non-Generating Station not in Mode 1, I wouldn't be surprised to see either a new Site VP or a new logo on the hardhats in 2011

[MeterSwangin]

One group of people who might be dismayed by that level of non-performance will be the shareholders when the 1Q10 earnings reports come out. If EIX doesn't beat the 71 cents/share forecast, coupled with the recent downgrade on Mission Energy bonds, I wouldn't be too surprised to see EIX get a bond downgrade below the current BBB-. Should that downgrade transpire with Shutdown Often Non-Generating Station not in Mode 1, I wouldn't be surprised to see either a new Site VP or a new logo on the hardhats in 2011

Not sure what all that means.  Must be why I work for money rather than have money work for me.

Making electricity is not important when facing Column 3.  Ask Davis Besse or Palo Verde. 

All focus on getting good again.  And it is working.

New RPM just announced.  TMI guy.

[desertdog]

Not sure what all that means.  Must be why I work for money rather than have money work for me.

Making electricity is not important when facing Column 3.  Ask Davis Besse or Palo Verde. 

All focus on getting good again.  And it is working.

New RPM just announced.  TMI guy.

Hope he isn't the one that gave us our welcome to TMI speach in '97.  "We have seen the worst here and are nowhere near that with this unit. This outage will end and you will be down the road so just do things our way"

[HydroDave63]

All focus on getting good again.  And it is working.

Umm...that whole WANO/SALP/INPO rating thing only goes up after a plant comes back online and has improved sustained operations. Unless you consider your competition to be Hallam, Pathfinder, Rancho Seco and Zion ??!?

[N.Bohr]

Has anyone heard about the upcoming anpeo class that they are currently hiring for?  Start date, etc...

[boomshakalaka]

I doubt I could survive in Southern California and pay off my $50k worth of student loans with that salary.  Also, I really can't afford the expense of both trips right now.  So, from an economic standpoint, I think I'll have to wait until they're hiring at a later date

but does the 'outage' apply to the wages of apprentice operators as well? I heard the new apprentice operators sit in classrooms for 7-8 months anyway, and can look forward to a raise to $35 in 12-18 months..Plus i'm sure on a 12 hour shift, you can work over 40/week. I saw somehwere on this thread that avg pay for week was around $1780..

boom

[HydroDave63]

All focus on getting good again.  And it is working.

New RPM just announced.  TMI guy.

Looks like a rad survey of the switchyard next outage...  

Fiestaware  bushings to save money???

OFFSITE NOTIFICATION TO CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

"On May 19, 2010, at approximately 1730 PDT, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) was notified that scrap bushings from breakers in the Unit 2 switchyard had alarmed a radiation monitor at a metal recycling facility in Los Angeles County. The metal recycling vendor (Alpert and Alpert) shipped the bushings back to a Southern California Edison (SCE) facility in Orange County. On May 21, 2010, SONGS completed isotopic analysis of a sample of ceramic shards from six randomly selected bushings. The analysis confirms the presence of naturally occurring radionuclides (uranium and thorium series), but does not indicate the presence of licensed radioactive material.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2010/20100524en.html#en45943

[Already Gone]

The metal recycling vendor (Alpert and Alpert) shipped the bushings back to a Southern California Edison (SCE) facility in Orange County.


Hmmmmm.  SONGS is in San Diego County.  Only by a few yards, but definitely in SD County.  Why would someone send them to a site in Orange County instead of sending them back to SONGS?  It makes me wonder.  Would it be a problem to release NORM from the nuke site if it had been returned there?  Or, is it an appearance thing?  Naturally, if I were an interested (but untrained) bystander, I would probably be alarmed to see a bunch of technicians with radiation detection gear in my neighborhood.  Anybody got any insight on the reason for sending the stuff there?

[MeterSwangin]

The metal recycling vendor (Alpert and Alpert) shipped the bushings back to a Southern California Edison (SCE) facility in Orange County.


Hmmmmm.  SONGS is in San Diego County.  Only by a few yards, but definitely in SD County.  Why would someone send them to a site in Orange County instead of sending them back to SONGS?  It makes me wonder.  Would it be a problem to release NORM from the nuke site if it had been returned there?  Or, is it an appearance thing?  Naturally, if I were an interested (but untrained) bystander, I would probably be alarmed to see a bunch of technicians with radiation detection gear in my neighborhood.  Anybody got any insight on the reason for sending the stuff there?

Breakers don't belong to nuke plant, belong to Edision Transmission Dept. headquartered in Orange County (near Long Beach scrap yard that rejected them.)  Just sent them short trip to sit in Transmission yard while Co. pumped out memo confirming NORM....

[tr]

Also, my understanding is that the facility they are at has the capabilities, and license, to possess and work on radioactive material.

[UncaBuffalo]

During the ISFSI project (projects?), the equipment was sprayed with some chemical before it went in the pool (...to keep the contamination from sticking).  What brand of chemical was it?

Thanks!

[HydroDave63]

During the ISFSI project (projects?), the equipment was sprayed with some chemical before it went in the pool (...to keep the contamination from sticking).  What brand of chemical was it?

Thanks!

Considering some of the adventures provided by Procurement and Maintenance in the past, I wouldn't be surprised if that chemical was known as "Scotchgard^TM"

[MeterSwangin]

During the ISFSI project (projects?), the equipment was sprayed with some chemical before it went in the pool (...to keep the contamination from sticking).  What brand of chemical was it?

Thanks!

alconox

[UncaBuffalo]

alconox

Excellent!  Thanks! 

Any opinion on whether it worked well enough to recommend?

[Brett LaVigne]

Excellent!  Thanks! 

Any opinion on whether it worked well enough to recommend?

I'm stalking you!!!

That stuff works pretty well, but if you use it in your cavity after drain down it is a serious safety issue. It is as if you are walking on vasiline coated stainless. I remember it being difficult to climb the rungs to exit without losing footing. Keeps the contamination from floating away though.

[Rennhack]

alconox

I don't see "Keeping things from sticking" in the product discription:

ALCONOX - Powdered Precision Cleaner: Concentrated, anionic detergent for manual and ultrasonic cleaning. Free rinsing to give you reliable results without interfering residues. Ideal for cleaning contaminants from glassware, metals, plastic, ceramic, porcelain, rubber and fiberglass. Excellent replacement for corrosive acids and hazardous solvents. USDA authorized. Dilute 1:100. pH 9.5

Source: http://www.alconox.com/static/section_top/gen_catalog.asp

It's my experience with it that there is no residue.  It neither interfeers with footing, nor causes contamination to not stick to it.

[Brett LaVigne]

It's my experience with it that there is no residue.  It neither interfeers with footing, nor causes contamination to not stick to it.

Yes, once rinsed. What I was referring to is the way we used it at SONGS with the cavity. Gotta go down there to rinse, and until it is rinsed it was very slippery. I don't remember using it as a preventative measure to keep things from becoming contaminated prior to being submerged in contaminated water, but it works well to prevent airborn on large, highly contaminated areas. We have also had tremendous success with a 20% glycerol/water mixture here at Humboldt. We used it in bug sprayers while removing and packaging our fuel racks. Wrap it or paint it are the most effective ways to prevent something getting contaminated. Alconox would simply wash away once dunked I think.

Our water is somewhere around -4 Uci/ML (Cs-137, Am-241, Pu-239, Sr-90...sounds like fun huh?!), we can use as much water as we like. We don't use anything other than water on the way in, and water on the way out. Many many times our cords and fuel tools come out of the water <1K/<20 from just using water and a sprayer. That might not be an option at a running plant, just wanted to share the experience.

[MeterSwangin]

What is the recovery plan from the recent INPO 4 rating?

Familiar formula:  new leaders, tons of $$, time.

[HydroDave63]

Familiar formula:  new leaders, tons of $$, time.

Almost sounds like what another Region IV ( Region V back in the day ) site had planned for its 1989 restart...

[HydroDave63]

One group of people who might be dismayed by that level of non-performance will be the shareholders when the 1Q10 earnings reports come out. If EIX doesn't beat the 71 cents/share forecast, coupled with the recent downgrade on Mission Energy bonds, I wouldn't be too surprised to see EIX get a bond downgrade below the current BBB-. Should that downgrade transpire with Shutdown Often Non-Generating Station not in Mode 1, I wouldn't be surprised to see either a new Site VP or a new logo on the hardhats in 2011

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=EIX

Segment Results

Southern California Edison's (SCE) GAAP EPS in the reported quarter was 92 cents, compared to $1.53 in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings were 75 cents, compared to 61 cents. The increase in adjusted earnings was due to lower income tax expense and higher authorized revenue to support rate base growth. This was partially offset by a higher operating expense.


Put yourself in the Board of Director's shoes. Were it not for a one-time income tax switcheroo, the "adjusted" 2Q10 earnings would have been around 25-30 cents a share. Scarcely enough to cover dividends and bond payments, neither of which can you fool with if you want to keep your Moody's ratings. Every other part of the EIX corporation is earning good money, except for your INPO 4 ship-in-a-bottle on the beach. Reading the accounting shows that the "Retained Earnings" line swells every quarter to cover money sunk into operating it.

You call the play:

1. Call in NMC to make you part of the pool and save ya (no longer an option)

2. Decommission (awful thought but bean counters can prove it makes sense on paper now)

3. Bring in smart people from another CE System 80 owner that either purchases or manages for others. Entergy or FPL ?

4. Bite the bullet and hope the current crew self-heals in a timely manner.

5. Immediate Stalinist purge of some slugs and some good folks, and roll the dice on their replacements.

Perhaps a topic for a poll?