By John Stang
A California environmental organization called this week for a second utility to justify a request for a threefold spending increase from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning trust fund.
On Tuesday, San Diego County-based Public Watchdogs asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to hold an evidentiary hearing on San Diego Gas & Electric’s request for higher 2020 spending. The utility owns a 20% stake in the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS) three-reactor complex. Last week, Public Watchogs asked CPUC to force the same justification from SONGS majority owner Southern California Edison, which has an 80% stake.
The cities of Riverside and Anaheim also have very small shares of SONGS.
“Public Watchdogs argues that with this much money at stake. … [t]he California Public Utilities Commission must conduct a line-item review of all past and future expenditures,” Charles Langley, executive director of Public Watchdogs, wrote to the CPUC this week.
Late in 2019, SONGS requested that the CPUC allow it to withdraw $461.8 million from the decommissioning trust fund in 2020. In 2017, SONGS thought it would need $166.3 million in 2020. The latest estimate includes work not completed in 2018 and 2019, plus work originally scheduled for after 2020. The commission has said it might need until mid-April to rule on Edison’s request.
Edison has said that the proposed 2020 workload at the plant is vastly greater than foreseen in 2017. San Diego Gas & Electric, reached this week by RadWaste Monitor, asserted the same reasoning. In 2018, SONGS halted spent-fueling handling for nearly a year after a close call with a fuel cask.
SONGS had some $2.6 billion in its decommissioning trust fund at the beginning of 2019. Southern California Edison predicts spending $4.4 billion on decommissioning through 2028.
Public Watchdogs argues that San Diego Gas & Electric and Edison seek widespread access to the trust fund for activities other than decommissioning. Public Watchdogs claimed the utilities have signaled that rates will increase due to decommissioning. The environmental group also contends that the decommissioning trust is not being audited by a legitimate third party outside of Southern California Edison and its general decommissioning contractor, SONGS Decommissioning Solutions: a joint venture of AECOM and EnergySolutions, plus Holtec International. Holtec handles spent fuel movement and storage.
Edison has said it seeks the money for decommissioning, managing spent fuel and eventual site restoration — but not for any other activities. Edison has also said that any rate increases would have to be approved by the CPUC. Edison has also rebutted charges of impartiality in auditing, saying that a five-person committee — two company employees and three CPUC-confirmed people unaffiliated with Edison — performs independent audits.
SONGS permanently closed in 2013 following installation of faulty steam generators in its two operational reactors, Units 2 and 3. Unit 1 was largely decommissioned following its shutdown in 1992.
