San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Photo: KPBS
The California Coastal Commission will vote this afternoon on the proposal to store more radioactive fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Southern California Edison plans to partially bury 75 canisters at San Onofre in order to store more than 2,600 radioactive used fuel rods. About 51 canisters containing spent fuel are already stored on site, and opponents are urging congress not to store any radioactive fuel so close to the ocean.
Last month, county supervisors called on congress to find a long-term storage solution out of San Diego County. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors agreed to ask the federal government to remove and relocate nuclear waste being stored at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Local activist Donna Gilmore says her research shows the canisters are indeed NRC approved, but not for this oceanfront location, and not so close to the water table. Gilmore also plans to tell the commissioners of the fallacies in their seismic safety standards.
“You have no business trying to evaluate nuclear equipment using commercial building code standards,” Gilmore said.
Lower Trestles.: a stone’s throw away from where the waste will be stored. Photo: Jack English
Bill Alley, author of Too Hot to Touch, a book about the problems associated with storing nuclear waste, suggests that it would be much safer to transport the fuel to dry casks rather than leaving it in cooling ponds on site at San Onofre.
“The casks are fine for a couple of decades—certainly better than the pools,” Alley said. “But there’s no solution in the longer term, and that’s what really needs to be worked through.”
San Diego Congressman Darrell Issa introduced a bill that could encourage communities to collaborate on an temporary solution, but even that could be decades away. The stainless steel dry storage casks are licensed for 20 years, but Gilmore is concerned that there is no way to inspect them for damage, such as cracking, since they are encased in concrete.
The Coastal Commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6th at the Long Beach Convention Center.
