Orange County has a problem with waste from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. If the politicians work together, they can find solutions. The Register’s Teri Sforza wrote a detailed article reporting the site stores 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste in an earthquake zone. She cited dueling experts on how dangerous it remains.
The solution involves moving the waste to another location in the United States. Rep. Mike Levin’s 49th District represents San Onofre. His latest Progress Report on the station projects these estimated goals:
- 2028: The station’s dismantling is completed.
- 2020-30: The U.S. Department of Energy will choose sites to host one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities. Levin has emphasized the consent of the local communities around the country is crucial.
- 2033-2038: The federal facilities start operating and San Onofre’s waste begins to be transferred.
- 2045: All San Onofre waste is transferred, the local spent-fuel storage installations are dismantled and the site is returned to the Department of the Navy.
In politics, 21 years is a long time. We’re still wrangling about what to do with parts of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro after its decommissioning was announced in 1993. Concern over a plume of groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, a refrigerant and degreaser used to clean aircraft, lasted until 2020. Actions by the Navy and the Orange County Water District led to successful remediation, reported the Voice of OC.
This is an election year, so Levin’s Republican opponent Matt Gunderson says he can do better. It was a close election in 2022, with Levin beating Brian Maryott, 52.6% to 47.4%. The national parties again will be pouring money into each side.
“I think the biggest issue about the nuclear waste is prioritization,” Gunderson told me. “Nuclear waste is not a partisan issue. It’s geographic.” He said there are 76 waste sites in 34 states. And those sites don’t have the problem of earthquakes.
“To date, my opponent has no comprehensive plan to address nuclear waste and has no record of leadership on the issue,” Levin replied. He said removing the waste has been one of his top priorities since he came to Congress. And he has worked with members of Congress from across the political spectrum with similar problems from around the country, as well as local Republican Reps. Darrell Issa, Michelle Steel and Young Kim.
The voters will decide which candidate represents them Nov. 5. But with bipartisan support for a solution, taking care of the waste should be achievable.
Another idea I would like to advance is using the site for a new plant of what’s called Generation IV nuclear power. The site already is designed to hook into Southern California’s electrical grid. And California needs reliable energy.
There are several different Generation IV designs being developed. But the advantages include they “are more sustainable, with lower waste production and the ability to use nuclear waste as fuel,” wrote Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer, in Forbes. Such a plant then could use some of the existing waste on the site.
Last December the first such plant went into operation in Shanghai, China. Putting such a plant at San Onofre also would help America catch up with this exciting new technology.
The 2020 Democratic Party Platform for the first time endorsed “nuclear and advanced nuclear” power, along with other means to eliminate all carbon-using plants by 2035.
“It’s something I’d be open to,” Gunderson said, favoring an “all of the above approach to energy in America.”
When El Toro’s decommissioning first was discussed, people scoffed when our Editorial Board recommended the Department of the Navy privatize it. But that’s just what happened. The same could be done with San Onofre to produce the energy of the future.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at: johnseiler.blogspot.com
