An activist organization is legally challenging the movement of used nuclear fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California as too dangerous to the public.
The Aug. 29 lawsuit from San Diego-based Public Watchdogs in U.S. District Court for Southern California seeks an order requiring the NRC to put a hold on decommissioning at SONGS, which could begin this year; to have the site’s decommissioning trust fund analyzed to ensure it has a sufficient balance; to have the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review the efficacy of the canisters that hold the plant’s spent fuel in dry storage; and to appoint an unidentified independent monitor for the site’s decommissioning efforts.
On Friday, the organization requested a temporary restraining order to halt the current movement of used nuclear fuel at SONGS.
The defendants in both filings are Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, the prime owners of the retired power plant; Sempra Energy; Holtec International, which is managing the transfer of spent fuel from wet to dry storage; and the NRC.
“The SONGS’ defendants mismanagement of the decommissioning process — and the NRC’s failure to enforce federal regulations passed specifically to protect public safety …. have caused SONGS to become exactly what the community was afraid of: a continuing liability and an ever-present existential threat,” said Public Watchdogs’ complaint.
There have for years been local concerns about keeping radioactive used fuel on-site next to the Pacific Ocean. Those worries were exacerbated by an August 2018 mishap in which one canister was left at risk of an 18-foot drop while being placed into storage, along with scratches on some of the vessels. Southern California Edison says the potential drop, much less the scratches, would not have undermined the viability of the canisters to the point of radiation release.
“Placing spent nuclear fuel into approved canisters that meet all technical, safety and regulatory requirements for on-site storage is the first step to relocating the fuel to an off-site, federally licensed facility,” SCE said last week in a statement to the Orange County Register.
