San Onofre Community Engagement Panel to Discuss Dismantlement of Nuclear Plant, Efforts to Transfer Spent Fuel Off-Site

The San Onofre Community Engagement Panel (CEP) will receive an update from Southern California Edison’s decommissioning general contractor, SONGS Decommissioning Solutions (SDS), on plans to begin dismantlement of the major structures at the 85-acre site. That work is expected to begin early next year. The CEP quarterly meeting is scheduled for Nov. 21 in Oceanside.

Last month, SCE received a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission, which cleared the way for major decommissioning work to begin. The 8-to-10-year process will see roughly 768,000 tons of material removed from the site, either by truck or by rail. SDS will discuss the process for removing the material and dismantling the buildings, including the twin containment domes visible from Interstate 5.

“Ongoing vigilance is vital as it relates to movement of spent nuclear fuel from wet to dry storage at San Onofre,” said David Victor, CEP chair. “As that work continues through mid-2020, there are other important issues that need to be addressed so that the local communities know what to expect, including dismantlement of the twin containment domes that are visible from Interstate 5.”

Developing a strategic plan to move the spent nuclear fuel to an off-site location is also a topic of the meeting. Representatives from North Wind, Inc., the consultant hired earlier this year by SCE, will provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities available to SCE to relocate San Onofre spent fuel, as well as the legislative landscape to support consolidated interim storage or movement toward a national permanent repository. The strategic plan will be finalized and released in late December 2020.

The regular quarterly meeting will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the QLN Conference Center, 1938 Avenida Del Oro, Oceanside. Staffed information booths will be open from 4:30-5:30 p.m. There will be a public comment period, and the meeting will be livestreamed via songscommunity.com.

SCE, majority owner of the San Onofre nuclear plant, announced in June 2013 that it had retired San Onofre Units 2 and 3 and had begun the process to decommission the facility. SCE has established core principles of safety, stewardship and engagement to guide decommissioning.

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.