U.S. Representative Mike Levin (D-CA) has introduced that would require NRC inspectors to remain at decommissioning nuclear power plants until all spent fuel is transferred from pools to canisters.
The proposed law, introduced Oct. 23, is Levin’s response to “failures” at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) located around four miles south of San Clemente, California, according to a press statement released with the bill. The station lies within Levin’s jurisdiction, but the bill would apply to all decommissioning plants across the country.
Levin has petitioned the NRC to keep a resident inspector at the SONGS plant while it’s being decommissioned over the next eight years, but the commission deemed his requests unnecessary.
The SONGS plant, owned by Southern California Edison, is being decommissioned by SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, a joint venture of Los Angeles-based AECOM and Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions. AECOM has said it may sell its stake in the joint venture, if it can.
Levin cites a 2018 incident as justification for the need for inspectors at decommissioning plants. That year, a canister of spent fuel was left hanging inside a storage cavity nearly 20 feet from the floor for around 45 minutes at the SONGS site. Although the canister didn’t fall and was safely lowered to the ground, a company whistleblower reported the occurrence at a public meeting. The NRC inspected the plant and fined Edison $116,000.
The House passed an amendment in an appropriations package earlier this year that prohibits the NRC from removing inspectors from nuclear power plants while spent nuclear fuel is being transferred from spent fuel pools to dry cask storage.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming presidential election gummed up Congress over the summer and lawmakers chose to keep the federal government funding with a stopgap spending bill that extends 2020 budget through Dec. 11. The Senate never published any spending bills, and the upper chamber never weighed in on Levin’s idea.
