By Jim Shilander
The majority owner and operator of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is considering tripling the size of its onsite spent nuclear fuel storage capabilities as the plant’s decommissioning process moves forward.
The announcement came a week after a wildfire, sparked by a big-rig blaze, shutdown Interstate 5 near the nuclear plant. The fire, some nuclear activists say, is further evidence that Southern California Edison must remove nuclear waste from the plant as soon as possible.
At a community engagement panel meeting hosted by Edison Thursday, May 22, Thomas Palmisano, the utility’s chief nuclear officer, said the company could expand its system for storing dry casks, which is considered the safest form of spent-fuel storage.
Currently, one-third of spent fuel from the plant’s three reactors is housed in dry-cask storage. The remainder, more than 2,600 fuel assemblies, is being stored in the plant’s cooling pools.
The plant’s decommissioning was announced in June 2013, a year and a half after a radioactive leak and excessive wear were discovered in its two active nuclear reactors, Units 2 and 3. The third reactor, Unit 1, was decommissioned in November 1992.
Palmisano said there are three vendors currently under consideration for providing the additional dry casks, including Areva, the current vendor. The utility must also consider the size of the canisters, as well as whether to can the fuel assemblies, which is favored by activists as an additional safety measure. Edson is legally obligated to assume that the Department of Energy will provide a national storage repository by 2024, but Palmisano admitted this would e net to impossible. However, the casks would need to be able to be transportable, he said.
Palmisano said the company would move “relatively quickly into the dismantling phase,” of taking down the physical plant. He also said approximately 12 workers in a storage area were evacuated Friday during the Combat fire to allow for a precautionary deployment of the station’s fire brigade.
Activists questioned whether the company would be able to fulfill its promises of safety in the past and that the panel needed to question its claims.
“Nobody knows what it’s going to do,” Donna Gil more of San Onofre Safety said. “There’s not enough understanding of the science and engineering.”
Jennifer Massey of San Clemente said the “legacy” of the members of the panel could be one of ridding the region of its nuclear waste, if it applied pressure to the utility, as well as on leaders in the federal government.
San Clemente Mayor Tim Brown, who serves as the panel’s vice-chairman, said his family had been personally effected by radiation, as family members had died of cancer and other illnesses as a result of atomic tests. But, he cautioned that it was important to not overreact to worries about what might happen.
“I don’t like to be told everything’s OK,” Brown said. “But I also don’t like being told things are falling apart (when they aren’t).”
Edison is expected to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal body that oversees the nation’s commercial nuclear power sites, with decommissioning cost estimates and reports on fuel management and post-shutdown activities later this year.
The panel will hold a workshop in July and meet as a full committee in August, said panel chairman David Victor. The dates and locations have not been announced.
The panel is not a decision maker, but rather acts an advisory committee, made up of local leaders and interested parties, that fosters discussion on the community’s nuclear concerns.
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