San Onofre to Store Nuclear Waste

The California Coastal Commission reluctantly agreed Tuesday to allow nuclear waste to be stored for 20 years at the San Onofre power plant south of San Clemente.

The federal government’s inability to find a permanent repository for used nuclear fuel makes the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station one of a growing number of nuclear power plants facing the issue of what to do with their spent uranium rods, which will be radioactive for thousands of years.

The commission voted unanimously to approve construction of a new, permanent facility to hold the waste, despite pleas from residents and environmental groups. They attached several conditions to the permit, including requiring Southern California Edison, owner of the plant, to provide an upfront guarantee that it could afford lifetime monitoring of the waste. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to sign off on the project, and construction would start at the latest by 2006. “I understand the public’s concerns about nuclear safety issues, and I may be in sympathy with them,” said Sara Wan, commission head. “But this commission’s jurisdiction is limited.”

The state agency is precluded by federal law from ruling on issues of nuclear safety, but its approval was still needed for the construction of facilities to store the waste.

San Onofre has two reactors that provide energy for 2.2 million homes and are licensed until 2022.