Southern California Edison (SCE) is on pace to complete its independent spent fuel storage installation expansion at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) by 2019, SCE Vice President Tom Palmisano said recently.
Palmisano appeared earlier this month before the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel, which serves as a liaison between SCE and the public. The target date for completing the expansion, as outlined in the company’s post-shutdown decommissioning activities report, is mid-2019.
SONGS houses more than 3.6 million pounds of nuclear material. There are about 50 dry-cask canisters in place at the storage pad, but SCE claims it needs 73 more canisters to store fuel that remains in the spent fuel pools.
The Secure Nuclear Waste group, which includes residents from San Diego and Orange counties, is opposing the company’s storage plans. San Diego attorney Mike Aquirre, one of the group organizers, has filed a lawsuit requesting that the California Coastal Commission revoke SCE’s expansion permit. The group has requested that the NRC and Energy Department facilitate the creation of a California interim storage facility in a more secure area to deal with the waste.
Palmisano also gave an update on forthcoming NRC inspections at the facility:
- April 3-4: ISFSI construction inspection;
- April 17-21: Security access control inspection;
- May 22-25: Second quarter decommissioning inspection;
- Aug. 28-30: Third quarter decommissioning inspection.
