The San Onofre Community Engagement Panel is set to meet Thursday to discuss the past three years of preparation to decommission the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, as well as plans moving forward.
Bidders for the estimated $4.4 billion project are Team Holtec, a team led by Bechtel, and an AECOM/EnergySolutions partnership. Plant majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE) has repeatedly extended the timeline on the selecting the decommissioning contractor, and has not offered a firm date.
Panel Chairman David Victor said in a telephone interview Monday that consolidated interim storage of U.S. nuclear waste will likely command lengthy discussion. He noted the growing support for removing spent nuclear fuel from SONGS and other nuclear sites around the country.
The Obama administration is pursuing a consent-based siting process for nuclear waste storage as an alternative to the canceled geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. That siting process, as drawn up, envisions a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048. Two private companies, Waste Control Specialists and Holtec International, are pursuing Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for interim storage facilities in West Texas and southeast New Mexico, respectively.
“In my view, that’s No. 1 on the list of things that we can work on,” Victor said of consolidated interim storage. “We can’t make it happen ourselves, but that’s the topic that’s getting more attention than anything else.”
The panel’s regular meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the DoubleTree Suites Hotel, 34402 Pacific Coast Highway, in Dana Point. Representatives from SCE, panel members, and local community members are all expected to attend. Guest speakers will also include representatives from organized labor groups, local emergency responders, and conservationist San Clemente Green.
