The State - News from Dec. 27, 1988

Improved safety operations at the problem-plagued Rancho Seco nuclear power plant near Sacramento have removed the reactor from a new list of the nation’s most hazardous nuclear plants. In an earlier semiannual ranking by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the plant was listed as warranting close regulatory attention. But in the new ranking, the plant was not among 16 reactors reported with safety problems. Rancho Seco, operated by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, was shut down for repairs for 27 months after a December, 1985, cooling accident and then restarted earlier this year. The plant narrowly avoided being shut down in a ballot question voted on in November. Instead, voters gave the plant another 18 months to prove that it can be operated efficiently. Plant officials hailed the new ranking. “The NRC has recognized the substantial improvements made at Rancho Seco,” said David Boggs, the utility’s general manager.