Edison International
06/24/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/24/2024 19:30
The Key to Unlocking California’s Nuclear Future
On a bluff overlooking the shimmering Pacific Ocean is what remains of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - the domes a well-known landmark for those headed to and from San Diego along Interstate 5. The site is also symbolic of a barrier to the state's plans for a clean energy future.
Southern California Edison's team at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station provides an update on the decommissioning progress.
San Onofre produced clean, firm power for Southern Californians for more than 40 years, at its peak generating enough electricity for 1.5 million homes. But the plant was retired in 2013 after defects were found with replacement components. SCE is now in a decades-long process of slowly, carefully, safely decommissioning the plant, a process that won't be complete until the federal government fulfills its promise to clear the site of 123 canisters of spent nuclear fuel now stranded at San Onofre.
"The communities around San Onofre did not consent to the long-term storage of fuel here," said Manuel Camargo, SCE principal manager of Strategic Planning. "We need help from the federal government - to deliver on its contractual obligation to take the spent fuel. We're working hard on that."
Work to dismantle SONGS is 60% complete and the debris must be removed from California.
For now, the spent fuel is stored safely in stainless steel canisters encased in reinforced concrete structures. They are regularly inspected, and the dry storage system at San Onofre is designed to protect the spent fuel from man-made threats and natural events such as an earthquake from a fault five miles offshore and a large tsunami from overseas.
But it can't remain there forever, partly because California law forbids the construction of new nuclear power plants in the state until a permanent facility is available to store the nation's spent nuclear fuel.
The iconic twin domes are scheduled to start coming down in 2027-28, with the land eventually returned to its owner, the U.S. Navy.
As electricity demand is expected to increase 80% by 2045, nuclear power could play an important role in California's clean energy mix.
Next-generation nuclear power plants use smaller, advanced reactors that produce less waste and potentially can be powered from spent fuel from the current fleet of reactors like San Onofre. They are a key component of the urgent transformation needed to accomplish California's clean energy mandates.
"When we look at what's needed to deliver on California's ambitions around decarbonization, we know we're going to need something like nuclear in the mix. It's clean generation we can rely on 24 hours a day," said Steve Powell, SCE president and CEO. "So, there is urgency to find a solution for the spent fuel and eliminate a potential barrier to the use of new nuclear reactors here and across the country."
The spent fuel is stored safely in stainless steel canisters encased in reinforced concrete structures.
In 2021, SCE formed the Spent Fuel Solutions coalition, which works with local governments, elected officials, utilities, environmental groups, labor leaders, Native Americans, business groups and others to advocate for changes to federal law to enable off-site storage and disposal of spent fuel.
"Countries including Canada and Sweden have robust spent fuel management programs, and Finland will open the world's first deep geologic repository next year," Camargo said. "The opportunity to learn from international best practices is among the reasons for optimism that we will find a solution for the spent fuel at San Onofre."
While members of Congress and others wrestle with the spent fuel issue, the dismantling of San Onofre continues. The iconic twin domes are scheduled to start coming down in 2027-28, with the land eventually returned to its owner, the U.S. Navy. San Onofre sits on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
For more information on SONGS decommissioning, visit songscommunity.com.