The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. (Photo: SCE)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted two low-level regulatory violations during a recent inspection of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which is currently undergoing decommissioning in Southern California. The violations involved the shipment of two reactor pressurizers from San Onofre to EnergySolutions’ disposal facility in Clive, Utah.
The SONGS independent spent fuel storage installation. (Photo: SCE)
Spent Fuel Solutions, which advocates for a permanent disposal solution for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, will be holding an informational webinar on Friday, September 15, from 11:00 a.m. to noon (PDT).
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. (Photo: Southern California Edison)
Ten years ago this month, on June 7, 2013, Southern California Edison (SCE) communicated the decision to permanently shutter the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The decision set in motion the decommissioning of a plant that had provided steady baseload power for the region since 1968 during a period of tremendous growth in the western United States. In the end, issues presented by the planned replacement steam generators that were intended to support future plant operations proved too large of a hurdle, and the plant was forced to retire.
The San Onofre nuclear power plant.
The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) recently shared a few videos on its YouTube channel, showing recent progress Southern California Edison has made in dismantling the plant’s turbine building. Decommissioning of the nuclear power plant, which permanently ceased operations in 2013, is being conducted by SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, a joint venture of EnergySolutions and AECOM.
A graphic representation of the tendons encircling the San Onofre containment domes. (Image: SCE)
A nearly yearlong effort to de-tension and remove more than 400 steel cables, known as tendons, from the two containment domes of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) was recently completed, with only one minor first aid incident recorded, according to Southern California Edison.