The Garden Grove chemical plant scare in May was an all-too-real reminder that even common hazardous industrial materials can pose sufficient threats to upend entire communities in a single moment. A valve malfunction in the storage system of a chemical used in manufacturing plastics and resins led to near explosion of a storage tank and emergency evacuation of tens of thousands of nearby residents.
San Onofre, just south of San Clemente, presents a far greater and longer-lasting danger. Roughly 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel are stranded there, near the shoreline, in 123 temporary storage canisters.
For over four decades, there has been no tangible progress toward creation of a permanent, federal repository for the nation’s commercial nuclear waste which must be isolated from humans and the environment for about a million years. Attempts to convince other states to store nuclear waste from other parts of the country on an interim basis have so far failed. Consequently, San Onofre is effectively a de facto nuclear waste dump site for the foreseeable future.
Spent nuclear fuel is far more radioactive than the uranium which fuels nuclear reactors. For example, each one of San Onofre’s canisters contains about one-third the amount of deadly Cesium-137 as was released at the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Southern California is at risk should those canisters fail in some way that releases radiative chemicals into the air and/or water – the region could become contaminated or even uninhabitable for untold generations.
The first step in preventing a nuclear waste storage crisis at San Onofre is recognizing that this is not only a federal problem. While the federal government remains responsible for building a permanent national repository for commercial nuclear waste, there is no guarantee that a solution will materialize soon enough for Southern California. San Onofre’s canisters were never designed for long-term storage. They are thin-walled (5/8-inch steel) and subject to corrosion and cracking in moist, salty air.
Moreover, the canisters are stored out in the open, alongside both the Pacific Ocean and Interstate-5. This location leaves them also vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis, storm flooding, sea level rise and terrorist attacks.
As long as the spent fuel remains at San Onofre, California has a responsibility to ensure, with utmost certainty, that it is stored in the safest possible configuration before a radioactive catastrophe can occur.
That is why a local and regional safety plan for San Onofre is urgently needed.
Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and his Chief Policy Advisor, Scotty Hong, have been working with local residents, community groups, and legislators across Orange and San Diego counties to advance an effort toward safer storage. They have also been working with technical and academic partners, including Dr. David Richardson (Associate Dean for Research at UC Irvine) and postdoctoral researchers who are examining the public-health, environmental, and technical dimensions of the problem. Southern California Edison has also been engaged in discussions, which is essential because any realistic safety plan must include participation of the site operator.
One concept now being explored is whether, after the San Onofre site is fully decommissioned, the spent fuel canisters could be moved from their current location and secured onto higher ground within an above-ground, fortified storage facility at the adjacent “domes” site. The point is not simply to move the canisters from one place to another. The goal is to create a far more robust, better-monitored storage system built to both prevent cannister corrosion and withstand all foreseeable insults, including from flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis, fire, and security threats.
A fortified storage facility would be designed for long-term monitoring, emergency protection, and public accountability. It should be built to last at least 100 years, recognizing that a permanent federal solution may not arrive sooner. Other countries, like Switzerland and Germany, have shown that spent nuclear fuel can be secured in fortified above-ground facilities specifically designed for real-time monitoring, inspection, and protection against major external hazards.
A serious safety plan should also include a “hot cell” facility – a highly shielded structure which allows experts to fully inspect nuclear waste canisters and the integrity of the contents, all under controlled conditions. A hot cell would allow for nuclear waste to be safely repackaged into new canisters, if needed. Without that capability, Southern California would remain largely unable to respond if canisters degrade or suffer serious damage as a result of environmental insults.
This effort should be science-based, transparent, and regional. It should include local governments, county and state agencies, federal regulators, Southern California Edison, credentialed nuclear researchers at UC Irvine, local residents, and community organizations.
Just as community activism was pivotal in the permanent shuttering of San Onofre in 2013, public awareness of the scope of the plant’s nuclear waste storage predicament is equally important now to encourage these various societal elements to pull together to craft a sound and doable solution.
It is already clear that some local residents are anxiously waiting for authorities to take action. For example, concerned citizens donated time and money to displaying banners on Interstate-5 overpasses near San Onofre spanning several weeks in May and June. The two banners read “Nuclear Waste Forever Deadly” for those traveling north past the nuclear waste site, and “3 Million Pounds of Radioactivity ⤴️ Next Exit” for southbound traffic.
San Onofre is not a problem we can afford to leave for another generation. A permanent federal solution might come someday. But until it does, Southern California must lead with a practical interim safety plan, a fortified storage strategy, and the courage to act locally before a preventable emergency becomes a regional disaster.
Sarah Mosko is a long-term resident of Orange County with a basic science background. She researches current environmental issues and solutions, including the problem of nuclear waste storage and disposal.
Author note: The author thanks Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and Chief Policy Advisor Scotty Hong for their contributions and assistance in developing this article.
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