March 17, 2014

DECOMMISSIONING OF SONGS TO MOVE FORWARD ‘EXPEDITIOUSLY’

By ExchangeMonitor

The owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station announced late last week that they would decommission the SONGS facility as “expeditiously” as possible with the spent fuel pools being moved to dry-cask storage as quickly as possible. With the two-year anniversary of the discovery of a leak that forced the pre-mature shutdown of the plant, the owners wanted to assure the speedy decommissioning of the plant through a safety, stewardship, and engagement principles outline. “The leaders of the co-owner companies are members of the community and we want to do the right thing for our region,” said Southern California Edison President Ron Litzinger. There had been worry from the public that SCE would use the SAFESTOR method of decommissioning, which would allow the plant to sit for up to 60 years before active decommissioning had to occur.

The guiding principles also included a section that would assure stakeholder involvement in the process through an advisory committee. "We want the San Onofre decommissioning process to be managed in an inclusive, forward-thinking and responsible way,” the owners said. “In particular, the current and previous owners of San Onofre are committed to creating an advisory Community Engagement Panel (CEP) to bring together diverse stakeholders and open a conduit of information and ideas between the owners and the public. The panel would ensure that all key interests are included and heard: Elected representatives of the surrounding cities and counties, the military, local environmentalists, business, labor, customer interests and academia.”

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