The San Diego advocacy group Public Watchdogs is suing a California state agency to prevent decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) until a new environmental review of the project is published.
At issue is the California State Lands Commission’s approval on March 21 of an environmental impact report (EIR) on decommissioning the two standing reactors at the retired San Diego County nuclear power plant. Approval of the staff report was a key regulatory step in SONGS majority owner Southern California Edison’s (SCE) schedule for primary decommissioning to begin this year.
The “Final EIR fails to address critical points related to the Project, including the storage of spent nuclear fuel and design flaws in the canisters that transport and house the spent fuel,” according to the lawsuit, filed last week in California Superior Court. “Furthermore, [the State Lands Commission] refused to delay its vote on the Final EIR even though Petitioner and others urged it to wait for the March 25 report of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), which was investigating safety concerns related to SONGS.”
On March 25, the federal regulator said it would levy a $116,000 penalty against Southern California Edison for an August 2018 mishap in which a spent fuel canister was at risk of dropping nearly 20 feet into a dry-storage slot on the SONGS property.
Last week, the agency cited Holtec International for two violations that were identified in connection with its contract to move the two reactors’ spent fuel from wet storage to dry storage. Holtec does not face any financial penalty in that case.
Southern California Edison and Holtec said they have made a number of improvements in the spent-fuel transfer process. The NRC will have to authorize the operation to resume.
Public Watchdogs said the State Lands Commission vote breached California opens meetings and public notification laws. “The EIR must be revised to address the issues involved in storing spent nuclear fuel and the dangers of exposure to radioactive materials and alternatives such as relocation of the spent nuclear fuel,” the lawsuit says.
