Calif. Nuclear Plant to Close

Had been shut down for more than a year due to safety problems.

The troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant on the California coast is closing, after an epic 16-month battle over whether the twin reactors could be safely restarted with millions of people living nearby, officials announced Friday.

Operator Southern California Edison said in a statement it will retire the twin reactors because of uncertainty about the future of the plant, which was facing a tangle of regulatory hurdles and investigations. With the reactors idle, the company has spent more than $500 million on repairs and replacement power.

The plant "has served this region for over 40 years," Ted Craver, chairman of SCE parent Edison International said in a statement. "But we have concluded that the continuing uncertainty about when or if (the plant) might return to service was not good for our customers, our investors, or the need to plan for our region's long-term electricity needs."