Southern California Edison distributed a three-volume set of
plans supporting the offsite relocation of the spent nuclear fuel
currently stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The
strategies are outlined in the Action Plan, Strategic Plan and
Conceptual Transportation Plan.
To further build momentum toward commercially reasonable offsite
storage or disposal solutions, and to urge the federal government
to meet its legal obligations, SCE and the counties of Orange and
San Diego announced the formation of a stakeholder coalition,
Action for Spent Fuel Solutions Now.
“SCE and our partners and stakeholders have a genuine
opportunity to bring people together with a shared interest to
prepare and advocate for the relocation of the spent fuel away from
the coast,” said Kevin Payne, SCE’s president and CEO. “It is clear
that to make tangible progress on this issue, the federal
government must act. Rather than wait for this to happen, we are
going to be a catalyst for change.”
The release of the plans constitutes a significant milestone in
a process that began with the 2017 settlement regarding the coastal
development permit issued for San Onofre’s expanded spent fuel
storage system. There are 123 canisters of spent nuclear fuel at
San Onofre and no federal repository available to relocate them to
at this time. The Department of Energy was to begin transporting
spent fuel from nuclear sites across the country to a repository in
1998.
“These plans provide the opportunity to analyze three broad
areas related to spent nuclear fuel removal. First, identifying the
pathways, options and feasibility, both near term and long term, to
relocate the fuel. Second, the transportation considerations to
safely get from point A to point B. And third, the steps SCE must
take to be prepared when the opportunity arises,” said Doug Bauder,
SCE vice president and chief nuclear officer.
As SCE pursues these strategies, a key concern is protecting
customers from incurring additional costs for spent fuel
transportation and eventual storage or disposal. California
electricity users once served by the nuclear plant have already
paid nearly $1 billion into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund, which
now totals more than $43 billion.
The Plans
SCE retained North Wind, Inc. to develop the plans in June 2019.
The North Wind consultants worked with SCE and its Experts Team,
nationally recognized leaders in nuclear waste policy, spent
nuclear fuel transportation and nuclear engineering and science, to
support development of the plans.
The Action Plan identifies the steps SCE and San Onofre’s
co-owners/participants (San Diego Gas & Electric, the city of
Anaheim and the city of Riverside) are committed to take to advance
offsite relocation of the spent fuel and to ensure the site and its
spent fuel are prepared for off-site transportation when an
opportunity arises. This includes safely and securely storing the
spent fuel at San Onofre for as long as it remains. It also calls
for supporting the reestablishment of the federal nuclear waste
management program and advocating for legislative changes to
advance spent fuel storage and/or disposal solutions.
The Strategic Plan identifies and analyzes a range of
alternatives for spent fuel removal while making clear the
challenges and needed actions for those alternatives to be
realized. It provides assessments of the relative merits,
challenges, costs and timelines of the alternatives to help SCE and
stakeholders focus their efforts.
It recognizes the importance of more near-term solutions, such
as consolidated interim storage, as a companion to a consent-based
federal permanent disposal program.
The Conceptual Transportation Plan focuses on specific steps and
strategic considerations in planning for and executing the shipment
of spent fuel from San Onofre to an offsite location. This plan
details various aspects of a spent fuel shipping program and
identifies necessary preparations for eventual shipment, such as
determining the necessary space and equipment to load canisters for
rail transport.
Action for Spent Fuel Solutions Now
A new coalition, Action for Spent Fuel Solutions Now, provides
an opportunity for stakeholders, including local governments,
business and labor leaders, Native American leaders, environmental
groups, and community members, to join forces and make offsite
spent fuel storage and/or disposal a priority. SCE recognizes that
it cannot solve this issue alone. Co-founders include the counties
of Orange and San Diego, the city of Riverside, San Diego Gas &
Electric and SCE.
“It is imperative that we come together as a coalition to
strongly advocate for making offsite spent fuel storage a true and
actionable priority,” said Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett.
“It’s time to act,” added San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond.
“There has to be a mechanism for action, and we believe this
coalition will help move us forward.”
The coalition members will work to advocate for federal
legislation, funding, administration policies and programs that can
advance both permanent disposal and offsite interim storage.
More information about the coalition, including how to join, is
available on its website.
North Wind representatives will discuss the plans at Thursday’s
Community Engagement Panel meeting, which will be held virtually
via Microsoft Teams, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Information on how to
join the meeting is available here.
For more information about San Onofre, visit SONGScommunity.com
and follow us on Twitter (@SCE_SONGS) and Facebook
(@SONGScommunitypage).
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE: EIX) company, Southern California
Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a
population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer
accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central,
Coastal and Southern California.
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Media Contact: John Dobken, (626) 302-2255
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