Protesters gather against nuclear plant

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SAN DIEGO, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Protesters gathered at a meeting between federal regulators and Southern California Edison in opposition of the proposed reopening of a nuclear power plant.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant has been shut down for 10 months because of unusual wear on steam generator tubes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Edison has proposed reopening about 70 percent of the plant for five months before taking it offline for inspection.

On Friday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission met with Edison to discuss the fate of the plant, the closing of which cost Edison and partner San Diego Gas & Electric a combined $771 million.

Anti-nuclear activists and a group of four Buddhist monks and nuns gathered at the meeting to express their opposition to restarting the plant.

One of the monks, Senji Kanaeda, said he was concerned about nuclear power in part because of the disaster at Fukushima.

"We would like to pass a safe world to the next generation," he said.