U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) said he used a meeting last week with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki to renew his call for increased federal oversight at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
“As I told the chair, it is imperative that the NRC, Southern California Edison, and Holtec International take concrete actions to improve public confidence in operations at the facility,” Levin said in a video update posted Saturday. “I strongly encouraged the chair to ensure that an NRC inspector is always present during transfers of spent nuclear fuel.”
Levin, whose congressional district covers the retired nuclear power plant in San Diego County, had previously made the request in a June 21 letter to Svinicki. The NRC chair, writing to Levin and other California lawmakers earlier in the month, said the agency had concluded following “careful consideration” that a full-time resident inspector was not needed at SONGS to ensure public health and safety.
Southern California Edison permanently retired SONGS in 2013, after faulty steam generators were installed in its two remaining operational reactors. The utility contracted Holtec to transfer spent fuel from the reactors into dry storage. The process has been suspended since an August 2018 mishap left one canister of fuel assemblies at risk of an 18-foot drop into its storage slot. The NRC fined Southern California Edison $116,000 for violations of federal nuclear safety rules. While the agency has signed off on resumption of the fuel offload, SCE and Holtec are still readying for work to begin.
Levin has made safety at the facility a core issue following his election in the November 2018 midterms. He formed a task force on safety at SONGS, and in May introduced legislation that would prioritize removal of used fuel from nuclear energy facilities that are decommissioned or being decommissioned, and are in densely populated regions with elevated earthquake risks. Those characteristics all apply to San Onofre.
