| The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Company to increase the generating capacity of the two San Onofre nuclear power plants by 1.4 percent, or about 16 megawatts of electricity per unit. The power uprate at the nuclear facility, located near San Clemente, will increase the generating capacity of each unit to about 1,090 megawatts of electricity. The facility intends to implement the power increase while online in early July. The application for the increase in power was submitted to the NRC in April. The three-month review period by the agency reflects efforts to improve the timeliness of the review process for this type of request. The NRC's safety evaluation of the requested power uprate for the units focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations and technical specification changes. |