Irvine residents might soon find their city taking a larger role in handling toxic waste amid a push from Mayor Larry Agran for the city to take the lead in storing more than three million pounds of nuclear waste remaining at the decommissioned San Onofre power plant.
Agran is set to ask his colleagues on Tuesday night to let staff draw up a plan to get involved, but it remains unclear how interested the rest of the city council is in handling the nuclear waste dump after nearly half the city council left a study session early on the issue in September.
Slated for the same meeting, city council members are also set to discuss ways to keep their household hazardous waste disposal program alive amid plans to permanently end the program on New Year’s Eve.
While city council members haven’t previously discussed their hazardous waste disposal program, Agran’s been pushing for city leaders to take a stronger look at San Onofre for months.
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was decommissioned in 2013 and currently stores approximately 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive waste, calling into question health and safety implications for millions of Southern California residents who live in the region. Irvine is located about 30 miles from San Onofre.
While the U.S. government is supposed to clean up and restore the area, there’s no clear timeline for when federal leaders will get that process going.
Agran argued the city can’t wait several more decades for an answer from the federal government, calling for all the waste to be moved from the empty plant to a fortified storage facility at Camp Pendleton that’s behind the 5 Freeway and further from the coastline.
“There appears to be broad agreement among stakeholders — including residents, academic experts, regional partners, and community organizations — that the approximately 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel at SONGS [San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station] should be moved to an above-ground fortified storage facility, while long-term federal solutions are pursued,” reads a memo from Agran included with the Dec. 2 agenda.
“There is also support for Irvine to take the lead in initiating a locally generated, near-term planning effort for fortified storage,” the memo continues.
During a special meeting on Sept. 30, council members held a study session to receive input from the public and experts to understand the conditions at San Onofre and identify measures the city can take to promote the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel.
“When Southern California Edison decided to start decommissioning SONGS [San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station] in 2013, many of us — myself included, of course — breathed a sigh of relief,” Agran said at the Sept. 30 meeting. “But then came the question: what to do with the accumulated radioactive nuclear waste?”
He emphasized that the canisters used to store nuclear waste on site were never meant to be there permanently.
“Why is this extremely dangerous, highly radioactive nuclear waste stored on site?” he continued. “Because there is no national repository for nuclear waste.”
Agran said Irvine can be a leader in creating a plan for safer storage while they wait for federal action.
“The way I see it, we in Irvine, hopefully joined by other nearby cities and working with the Spent Fuel Solutions Coalition, can be instrumental in funding and otherwise leading in the preparation of that plan — let’s call it Plan B,” he said. “This would be a plan for the near-term, safer storage of San Onofre spent nuclear fuel.”
Experts at that meeting included representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station Community Engagement Panel, Southern California Edison and the University of California, Irvine.
Gregory Jaczko, former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, spoke to the council about how efforts at the local level can help the situation and emphasized that the current system is not appropriate for permanent storage.
“Until the fuel is moved, every effort must be made to identify and secure interim and ultimately permanent storage facilities for the San Onofre fuel,” Jaczko said. “I think today there’s too much acceptance, and the permits and authorizations [for the spent fuel to remain in place] will simply be extended as long as needed.”
Irvine’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility Set to Close
During Tuesday night’s meeting, council members are also set to discuss the city’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility, which is set to close at the end of the year.
Councilmember Mike Carroll is asking his colleagues to prevent the closure of the facility and allow it to remain open for residents to conveniently and locally dispose of hazardous waste.
“Forcing Irvine families and business owners drive 40 miles and pay more to dispose of waste safely is unacceptable,” Carroll wrote in a Thursday text message. “My email inbox shows it, people rely on this center. So if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
He emphasized that he led the effort to earn Irvine’s “California Clean City” designation, and he said keeping the center open is essential to maintaining that progress.
“We need to protect the environment,” Carroll wrote, “and this is one of the ways that Irvine leads the nation in quality of life and protecting our residents.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.