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City leaders said they felt compelled to get involved in the discussion over their concern for the public safety of Solana Beach. The Solana Beach City Council voted Wednesday to write a letter to federally-elected officials in hopes they will keep San Onofre in check.

There has been an increased effort by many to shut down San Onofre for good since late January, when several year-old steam generator tubes – which are meant to last at least till the year 2050 – broke down.

At Wednesday night's Solana Beach City Council meeting, those wanting San Onofre shut down brought their concerns before the council, hoping they would stand with them.

"If San Onofre has a meltdown because it's triggered by a mega earthquake, you are all on your own," said Solana Beach resident Torgen Johnson.

Solana Beach resident Sharon Hoffman added, "If we were to shut down San Onofre today, we'd still have a problem tomorrow, but it would begin to get better."

Council members, though, did not feel it was their place to take a stance.

Southern California Edison joined in the public discussion on Wednesday, which was a first for them.

"The leak did not force us to shut it down, but we did," said Christopher Abel, who is with the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

That leak sparked environmental organization Friends of the Earth to roll out a television ad campaign targeting the plant in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange counties nine days ago.

Last Friday, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission toured the plant and met with its operators.

"I got the very strong impression that the plant is taking this very seriously and that they understand that they need to get to the bottom of the issues and that fundamentally that safety will be the most important priority as they go forward," said NRC chairman Gary Jaczko.

There is still no timetable as to when San Onofre could be up and running. Southern California Edison said it will be operational when it is safe to do so.