Orano’s company-led inspection of its own waste storage canisters at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station revealed no degradation after nearly two decades, the company in charge of waste management at the site said this week.
During the months-long inspection that began in November, Orano USA found no signs of chloride-induced stress corrosion in the stainless steel dry storage canisters that house the long-defueled plant’s spent fuel inventory on the California coast, the company said in a press release Wednesday. Such degradation could be caused by corrosive salts condensing on the canister as stored spent fuel cools down over time, Orano said.
The inspection’s results should allow Orano to continue using its spent fuel system at SONGS for another 40 years, beginning in 2023, as part of an aging management program approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the press release said. According to that plan, similar inspections will be conducted at the plant every five years.
In its press release, Orano said its cask system would need to be left unattended for nearly a century before chloride-induced stress corrosion became a concern.
SONGS, located in Pendleton, Calif., about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, went offline in 2013. About 123 canisters of spent nuclear fuel are currently stored at an onsite facility.
Orano announced the results of the inspection at SONGS not long after a competitor took aim at a different type of spent fuel storage container the company is planning to use at Diablo Canyon, another California nuclear power plant.
After plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric selected Orano for post-closure waste management operations, competitor Holtec said that the company’s Extended Optimized Storage system was “first-of-a-kind” and would require additional NRC safety reviews — claims which Orano called “misinformation” in an April 20 op-ed.
