The California Coastal Commission is tentatively scheduled in June to consider a permit that would allow major decommissioning to begin at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California.
“Commission staff is presently planning on the item being heard at the Commission’s June meeting, but this schedule is not final and could be subject to change (e.g., if there is a need for additional information about the proposal),” Coastal Commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz said by email this week.
The agenda for the June 12-14 meeting in San Diego is due to be finalized by May 24. The application for the coastal development permit would be added if the commission has sufficient information to vote on the matter, Schwartz said.
Utility Southern California Edison on Feb. 28 submitted the application for the permit covering onshore decommissioning operations, which broadly cover decontamination and disassembly of above-ground structures for two reactors at the retired power plant. A second permit application is planned for offshore operations involving removal of the intake and discharge conduits, plus related infrastructure.
Commission staff has not yet made a recommendation on the first application, according to Schwartz. “Consistency with the CA Coastal Act is the prime factor and will be the focus point of the staff report,” she said.
The 1976 law contains a set of measures to protect the state’s coastal zone.
Southern California Edison, SONGS’ majority owner and federal licensee, permanently retired reactor Units 2 and 3 in 2013 after faulty steam generators were installed in both systems. Unit 1 has been closed since 1992 and is largely decommissioned.
In December 2016, SCE hired an AECOM-EnergySolutions joint venture to manage the estimated $4.4 billion decommissioning project. While the contractor, formally called SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, has done some preliminary work, full cleanup of the property is dependent on the state permits.
The land portion of the San Onofre site is fully within the U.S. Marine Corps’ Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, with the offshore portion submerged in the Pacific Ocean to the southwest of the two reactors.
Onshore decommissioning operations would cover taking apart and cutting up parts from the reactor containment buildings; removing the containment buildings; extracting or decontaminating equipment, infrastructure, and other parts; and removing select noncontaminated systems. Onshore structures would be removed to no less than 3 feet below ground.
The site’s spent nuclear fuel storage pad and a switchyard would remain, according to the permit application.
Decommissioning is scheduled to begin this year and to be completed in 2028. Work would start with mobilization and site preparation, then proceed to active decommissioning into 2027. The offshore conduit removal would be conducted in 2023. Demobilization would cap off the project in 2027 to 2028.
The California State Lands Commission in March approved a staff environmental impact report (EIR) on the decommissioning plan, setting the stage for Coastal Commission consideration of the permits.
“The environmental impacts of the Proposed Project have been thoroughly analyzed through CSLC’s EIR process,” Southern California Edison said in its Feb. 28 permit application. “In the EIR, CSLC finds that the Proposed Project activities [would be consistent with applicable land use plans, policies and regulations of agencies with jurisdiction over the Proposed Project, including the California Coastal Act,’ and that no inconsistency with the Coastal Act is anticipated.”
However, the San Diego-based Public Watchdogs has sued in state Superior Court to block decommissioning until a new environmental impact report is prepared. The watchdog group said the existing document fails to address key components of the decommissioning project, including spent fuel storage.
Southern California Edison plans to hold about 3.5 million pounds of used fuel assemblies from all three reactors for some period at an expanded on-site storage pad. To resolve a lawsuit filed against the Coastal Commission over the expansion needed for used fuel from reactors 2 and 3, the utility in 2017 pledged to take “commercially reasonable” steps to move the material off-site. That process continues, with SCE planning to hire a consultant to assist in development a strategic plan for relocation that is part of its commitment under the 2017 settlement.
Transfer of used fuel from wet storage has been on hold since an August 2018 incident in which one canister was left at risk for nearly an hour of dropping 18 feet into its dry-storage pad. Southern California Edison said it has taken steps to improve the transfer process and paid $116,000 in penalties for violation of federal nuclear safety regulations. It must receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorization before contractor Holtec International can resume moving the spent fuel.
