So. Calif. officials express nuclear worry

SAN ONOFRE, Calif., March 30 (UPI) -- Officials in cities near Southern California's San Onofre nuclear power plant say they're worried about the safety of the facility, shut down since January.

After it was shut down for system failure, an inspection found significant wear on hundreds of tubes carrying radioactive water inside the plant's generators.

Some city officials are calling for the decommissioning of the San Onofre site, whose license is set to expire in 2022.

"The plant should be shut down, period," Verna Rollinger, mayor pro tem in Laguna Beach, told the Los Angeles Times. "I have never supported it, and I wish nuclear energy was safe because it's a relatively clean energy source, but it's also so dangerous that I don't think we should be counting on that for our future energy needs."

Lori Donchak, the mayor of San Clemente, has written to federal officials asking they demand a permanent disposal place for spent nuclear fuel, and others have demanded an expansion of the evacuation zone beyond the current 10-mile radius.

Laguna Beach and San Clemente are both within 20 miles of the San Onofre facility.

Federal regulatory officials said the facility remains safe during the process to repair the damaged tubes.

"San Onofre is being operated safely -- that's the bottom line," said Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.