SONGS Decommissioning Project
Project Specifications
Client: California State Lands Commission
Location: San Diego County
Services: Environmental Review & Permitting, Air Quality & Climate Services, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Public Participation & Involvement, Client Support
Units 2 and 3 of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) were shut down in January 2012. Unit 2 last operated on January 9, 2012, when it was removed from service for a planned refueling and maintenance outage. Unit 3 last operated on January 31, 2012, when it was removed from service to investigate indications of leakage from the primary to the secondary loop of the pressurized water reactor. Both units remained offline while inspections and engineering analyses were performed. The inspections revealed that each of the recently replaced steam generators had experienced higher than expected steam generator tube degradation. The permanent retirement of Units 2 and 3 was announced in June 2013.
With the permanent retirement of the generating units, SONGS is no longer an operating power plant and the decision was made by Southern California Edison (SCE) to decommission the plant. Decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is a long process that can take as long as sixty years. SCE, on behalf of the other co-owners of SONGS propose to complete decommissioning by 2051, only 38 years after the permanent closure of the facility. The decommissioning process is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which issued the licenses for construction and operation of the SONGS generating units and has exclusive jurisdiction over the radiological aspects of nuclear power plants.
Aspen Environmental Group was selected by the California State Lands Commission (CSLC) to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the decommissioning of SONGS Units 2 and 3. The CSLC has jurisdiction over the offshore components of SONGS, which include the cooling water intake and discharge conduits for Units 2 and 3, navigational and monitoring buoys, and some shoreline riprap. While the CSLC’s jurisdiction is limited to the offshore components of the facility, the EIR addresses the “whole of the action”, including all of the onshore facilities to be decontaminated, dismantled, and demolished. Decommissioning will proceed in multiple phases with the final phase completed after all spent nuclear fuel has been removed from the site. Preparation of the EIR required coordination with multiple agencies, including the U.S. Navy, California Coastal Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local jurisdictions. The decommissioning process has been the subject of ongoing public scrutiny due to concerns about remaining radioactivity at the site, including the interim storage of spent fuel on site. The Final EIR was completed in 2018. Since 2019, Aspen has been implementing the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for decommissioning activities which will continue through 2028.