Southern California Edison (SCE) plans in early May to hire a consultant to help develop a strategic plan for off-site relocation of spent reactor fuel now stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
The anticipated hiring is one element in the utility’s effort to meet its commitments under a 2017 settlement over construction of an expanded used-fuel storage pad at the retired San Diego County power plant. The settlement enabled SCE to continue moving the material into dry storage on-site even as it took “commercially reasonable” steps to find another location for the fuel assemblies.
Part of that approach includes developing transportation and strategic plans for relocating the spent fuel. In 2018, SCE established a six-person team of experts to guide this process, including former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Allison Macfarlane and former Energy Department official Thomas Isaacs.
Late last year, SCE issued a request for information for support in developing the strategic plan, according to an April 1 update. The company, SONGS’ majority owner and licensee, received 14 responses. It winnowed that down to three applicants for interviews, then selected its preferred candidate. As of this month it was in the hiring process.
“The selected consultant will work with SCE and the Experts Team to develop a strategic plan for offsite storage of SONGS spent fuel,” SCE spokesman John Dobken said by email on April 19. “The strategic plan will identify the universe of options for offsite spent fuel storage, cull them down to those that are practicable and commercially reasonable, and then map out opportunities that SCE may pursue to advance certain options for offsite storage.”
The consultant will coordinate input from experts in a number of fields, including nuclear engineering, spent fuel siting and licensing, spent fuel transportation, and environmental analysis, Dobken said.
Work has not yet started on the plan, which should be prepared over 18 months, he added. It will cover matters ranging from stakeholder engagement to prioritizing removal of SONGS’ spent fuel relative to other nuclear power plants.
In total, SONGS holds about 3.5 million pounds of used fuel assemblies. Spent fuel from reactor Unit 1 was placed into dry storage after its closure in 1992. The remaining two reactors were permanently retired in 2013 following installation of faulty steam generators. The next year, Southern California Edison hired Holtec International to build a new on-site storage pad and manage transfer of 2,668 fuel assemblies from the two reactors from wet storage to dry storage near the Pacific Ocean.
Some local residents and advocacy groups have objected to on-site storage at SONGS, given the high population density and seismic activity in the region. Holtec and Southern California Edison have consistently affirmed the safety provided by the hardened storage system against earthquakes and other threats.
The August 2017 settlement resolved a 2015 lawsuit from a watchdog group and local resident challenging the California Coastal Commission’s approval of expanding the used fuel storage pad at SONGS. Under the deal, SCE agreed to spend up to $4 million to meet its commitments. Along with preparing the strategic and transportation plans, the utility committed to asking the owners of the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona whether they would accept SONGS’ used fuel – they declined in October 2017. While SCE is among the owners of the Palo Verde plant, unanimous agreement was necessary for any deal.
Still, the 2018 request for information said options to be considered in the strategic plan include an expanded storage pad at Palo Verde, along with a permanent repository, an interim storage site such as the facility Holtec plans in New Mexico, or an Energy Department-operated pilot location.
Southern California Edison, according to the summary of the settlement, “will implement actions or recommendations identified in the Strategic Plan subject to certain conditions, such as California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) approval of the costs associated with transfer of the Spent Fuel to a Commercially Reasonable Offsite Storage Facility.”
Transfer of spent fuel at San Onofre has been on hold since an August 2018 mishap that left one canister vulnerable to being dropped nearly 20 feet into a storage slot. The incident led to an investigation by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which levied a $116,000 penalty against Southern California Edison. The company said it would not contest the fine.
Southern California Edison and Holtec International are waiting for NRC authorization to resume the spent fuel transfer. Twenty-nine canisters have been moved to the storage pad to date.
Michael Aguirre, the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the 2017 settlement, in March filed two lawsuits in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeking separate tranches of NRC documents related to its regulatory oversight at SONGS, including communications with Southern California Edison over the canister accident.
In one filing, Aguirre accused the agency of complicity of trying to hide the incident before a SONGS worker raised the matter at a public hearing in August. The NRC has said it cannot discuss pending litigation, but will respond to Aguirre in court. The agency had not filed any responses with the court as of Thursday.
Pending state regulatory approval, decommissioning at SONGS is due to begin this year under management of an AECOM-EnergySolutions joint venture. The $4.4 billion project is scheduled to wrap up by 2028.
