The utility company in charge of decommissioning a California nuclear power plant is preparing to ship some heavy reactor parts out of state to a low-level disposal facility, according to a recent press release.
The reactor pressure vessel head of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS) Unit 2 reactor “will be leaving the site soon,” operator Southern California Edison said in the statement, dated July 21. The component, which at one time was a key part of the Unit 2 reactor vessel, will be shipped to EnergySolutions’ low-level waste disposal facility in Clive, Utah.
The utility didn’t publish an exact timeline or route for the shipment, saying that such details are not publicly disclosed.
“Before shipping, all the necessary permits are secured and notifications are made to the appropriate state and federal agencies, if necessary,” the press release said. “Appropriate measures are taken to minimize any potential traffic impacts during these shipments.”
Southern California Edison is currently in the process of removing low-level radioactive waste from SONGS, located in Pendleton, Calif. The utility is planning to ship low-level waste, such as concrete and steel, off-site in around 5,000 railcars, the statement said.
Decommissioning work at SONGS is ramping back up again after work was put on hold back in April following an accident during which an employee fell into an open space known as an equipment vault in a building on site.
SONGS, which went offline in 2013, currently has its spent nuclear fuel stored in 123 canisters at an onsite dry storage pad. Local stakeholders and legislators are working to get that nuclear waste off the California coast — Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) reintroduced in February a bill aiming to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to put SONGS at the top of the pecking order for future shipments to a permanent nuclear waste repository.
