A federal judge ruled Tuesday against an activist organization’s lawsuit seeking a halt to the transfer of spent reactor fuel into dry storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California, according to both sides in the litigation.
Following oral arguments on Nov. 25, Judge Janis Sammartino, of U.S. District Court for Southern California, ruled in favor of SONGS majority owner Southern California Edison and fellow defendants including the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She denied Public Watchdogs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the additional offload of used fuel and dismissed the overall complaint with prejudice, meaning it could not be filed again.
In her ruling, Sammartino concurred with the defendants’ argument that the court did not have jurisdiction in this case and that Public Watchdogs had failed to demonstrate that its members have “suffered physical harm” from the fuel transfer or “state a plausible claim for relief.”
Public Watchdogs said its attorneys are studying a potential appeal of Sammartino’s ruling.
“We believe the case has merit and that the evidence should be heard in a court of law,” Charles Langley, executive director of the San Diego organization, said by email.
Southern California Edison (SCE) said in a prepared statement that “The court’s decision, which further prohibits (Public Watchdogs) from seeking to resubmit their claims in the court, allows SCE to continue moving spent nuclear fuel into a safe storage system,” the Orange County Register reported.
Public Watchdogs’ original complaint described SCE as having a long record of mistakes dating back for decades at the San Diego County facility, with the NRC providing insufficient oversight.
Southern California Edison permanently retired SONGS’ final two reactors in 2013 and the next year hired Holtec International to move their used fuel assemblies to a dry-storage facility next to the Pacific Ocean. Longstanding concerns about on-site storage of radioactive waste were exacerbated by an August 2018 mishap in which a spent-fuel canister was left at risk of an 18-foot drop for nearly an hour.
The NRC in March issued a $116,000 fine against the utility for violations of nuclear safety regulations in that incident. The fuel offload resumed in July after a nearly yearlong pause. It is expected to wrap up next year, at which point roughly 3.5 million pounds of fuel assemblies will be in dry storage.
