Sorry Cecelia, but there won't be much sympathy for SONGS on this forum. I loved working there, and really liked all the people I met there. But my personal regard for the people doesn't give them a free pass on this one, just as it hasn't previously.
They are a poster child for the anti-nukes, and that isn't fair. But you can't blame Japan for the latest problem entirely. The person holding the license has to shoulder the blame for components they have installed, regardless of the source.
We'd probably give them some slack if there was some defect of which they were not aware. We'd be right on their side if the defective steam generators were anything other than exactly what they knew they were getting. If industry experience has proven the reliability of USA-made components, then why in hell did SONGS not buy them!?!?! No. They brought this on themselves. It isn't the liberal media's fault that they bought the wrong design. It isn't the nuclear industry's responsibility to defend them just because they are under attack. You are wrong. This could not have happened to "any" plant. It might have happened to some other plant if they were run like San Onofre is run, but the reality is that it didn't happen to any other plant. If it makes you feel better, Davis-Besse is back on the grid, but some people are in prison. If it is any solace to you, Crystal River won't run again after cracking their containment. Maybe they have some steam generators you can buy.
Yes, the anti-nukes have been grossly unfair to them. And yes, the boilers came from a foreign manufacturer. I feel bad that people are going to lose their jobs over this. But, I can't accept their blind arrogant attitude that the world simply has to accept that they are relatively inept at running a nuke plant just because 1) they have been mistreated in the press for decades and 2) California needs their megawatts. The industry isn't likely to love them after they have skewed the statistics on cost and availability in the wrong direction for so long. And now, they have jeopardized even further the outlook for building new units. Face it, they make the rest of us look bad, and showing support for them will be viewed as acceptance of their low standards.
After all the fuss, excuses don't keep the nuclides inside the pipe where they belong. They need a better game plan than shrugging their shoulders and saying "we did the best we could, and you need us".
Any hope they have for redemption has to start with someone else taking over management of that site. I can't imagine who might want to take on a broken plant with a history of public persecution in a state that has no means to offer financial incentives. Rehabilitating SONGS is going to be difficult, expensive, and done under a microscope. That means that there had better be beaucoup money in the picture or nobody is going to want to touch it. So that leaves SCE to try to do it. Nobody believes that they can except SCE themselves, and you see where their judgment has gotten them. So don't blame us for doubting it now.