The reactors and most of the former San Onofre power plant are nearing the end of decommissioning, but millions of pounds of spent nuclear fuel pose a separate, much longer-term challenge.
Two congressmen will meet with nuclear scientists, clean-energy advocates and former federal regulators on Thursday at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Seaside Forum in La Jolla for an all-day discussion about long-term management of the waste.
Most of the former San Onofre plant is expected to be demolished by 2028, but its nuclear waste will remain. The spent fuel is expected to remain at the site for decades because the United States does not currently have a permanent repository accepting commercial spent nuclear fuel, according to event speaker Rep. Mike Levin.
With no other option, over 80 sites across the country are stuck storing nuclear waste.
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, or SONGS, still holds 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel. After cooling underwater for at least five years, all of the fuel was transferred by 2020 to steel canisters housed underground, wrapped in reinforced concrete. Known as “dry storage,” the system uses passive air circulation to keep the fuel cool and will remain at the site long after most decommissioning work is complete.
Storage sounds simple, but is not without its own risks. In 2018, workers lowering a canister into underground storage failed to notice that it had become misaligned. The canister became stuck while being lowered and was at risk of falling 18 feet into the storage vault, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Higher-than-expected levels of radiation were detected, but crews resolved the situation. The NRC later described it as a “near-miss” drop event.
The issue will be at the center of the “Nuclear Waste to Clean Energy” symposium, which starts at 9 a.m., at the Scripps Seaside Forum, hosted by the Samuel Lawrence Foundation in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Rep. Mike Levin will be joined by Rep. Scott Peters, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Greg Jaczko, Stanford energy researcher Mark Jacobson and Scripps oceanographer James Day.
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