Southern California Edison is seeking an amendment from the California Coastal Commission to expand its used nuclear fuel dry cask storage area at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), the company announced yesterday. The company anticipates adding an additional 80 canisters by 2019 to its dry storage area as part of its spent fuel management plan, and it needs an amendment to its Coastal Development Permit to move forward. “Local community leaders and a wide range of stakeholders in California have told us they want San Onofre’s used nuclear fuel moved to dry storage as expeditiously as possible,” said SCE Vice President of Decommissioning Chris Thompson said in a statement. “We want to be responsive to that preference while continuing to safely manage this fuel until the federal government does its job and opens a used nuclear fuel repository.” SCE has selected Holtec International’s underground dry cask storage system to store its spent nuclear fuel, which should be transferred by 2019, according to SCE’s decommissioning plan. SONGS’ current Indepedent Spent Fuel Storgae Installation currently holds 51 canisters.