Decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) will produce “significant and unavoidable” environmental affects, even with mitigation measures, the California State Lands Commission said Monday in its final environmental impact report (EIR) on the upcoming project.
The finding is in line with the draft version of the document issued in June. The report is a key step in securing a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission, which is necessary for primary active decommissioning to begin.
SONGS permanently closed in 2013 following installation of faulty steam generators in its last two operational reactors. SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, a partnership of AECOM and EnergySolutions, plans to conduct most decommissioning from 2019 to 2028 on behalf of plant owners Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, and the city of Riverside. The work would cover decontamination, dismantlement, and extraction of a number of above- and below-ground facilities, including the reactor structures.
Remaining decommissioning would be conducted around 2035, dependent upon removal of the plant’s spent fuel to an off-site location.
“The Proposed Project would generate significant environmental impacts associated with hazardous and radiological materials, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, Tribal cultural resources, hydrology and water quality, recreation and public access, and transportation and traffic,” the final EIR says. “With the implementation of Applicant Proposed Measures (APMs) and mitigation measures (MMs) identified in this EIR … most impacts would be reduced to Less than Significant. However, several impacts related to air quality and radiological materials 10 would remain Significant and Unavoidable, even after the application of feasible MMs.”
Among the significant and unavoidable impacts related to hazardous and radiological materials: “release of hazardous and radioactive materials during decommissioning and disposal”; the need for additional emergency response resources during decommissioning; and “exposure to radioactive groundwater contamination.”
Staff or contractors at the California State Lands Commission will monitor mitigation measures as work proceeds, the agency said.
The planned decommissioning approach is environmentally superior to all alternatives other than not doing the work at all, according to the EIR.
