Decommissioning San Onofre & Doing the Right Thing for the Community
The owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station recognize that decommissioning will be a long and complex process requiring the balancing of many interests. We acknowledge that, throughout this entire process, we have many responsibilities:
- To meet all federal and state regulatory and legal requirements
- To be a responsible steward for our customers’ contributions to the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust
- To be a trusted partner to the communities surrounding San Onofre
As members of these surrounding communities ourselves, we aspire to meet these responsibilities and to do the right thing for our region. Working together with the community and stakeholders, we believe that all of the various interests can be balanced for the good of all. We are committed to these core principles, and we are determined that the SONGS decommissioning process will be guided by the core principles and fundamental values of Safety, Stewardship, and Engagement.
We want the decommissioning of SONGS to be the model for the industry, and will be guided by the core principles and fundamental values of Safety, Stewardship, and Engagement.
Safety
Southern California Edison plans to safely decommission San Onofre in full compliance with state and federal regulations. We are doing so in a timely manner, while making plans and updates available to the public.
We are committed to meeting our responsibilities and doing the right thing for our region throughout this process. Work was completed in August 2020 to move the plant’s spent nuclear fuel, previously cooling in pools, into dry storage, where it will remain until the federal government creates the long-term storage option that it has committed to implement. We installed a radiation monitoring system specifically for the dry spent fuel storage facility to enable public agencies to track readings, providing additional information to the public. With the beginning of dismantlement activity in early 2020, we are providing quarterly updates to the local community on our progress.
Stewardship
We are committed to leaving the community better off as a result of having been home to San Onofre for 50 years. Throughout the eight year deconstruction process, we will work diligently to ensure compliance with environmental permits and regulations. We conduct frequent surveys of the land, water, and wildlife around SONGS and we will continue to support the revitalization of coastal wetlands and marine habitats, including the San Dieguito Wetlands Restoration Project and the recently expanded Wheeler North Reef. The owners also recognize their legal responsibility to spend the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust funds wisely and return any unused monies to ratepayers.