San Onofre  Nuclear Waste Storage Plan is Based on Nonexistent Technology
Channel: eon3
Date: 2015-10-21

In Excerpt 3 from the Oct. 6, 2015 California Coastal Commission meeting, Commissioner Mary Shallenberger raises serious questions about Southern California Edison's radioactive waste storage and transport plan for the San Onofre nuclear power plant, whose reactors are permanently shutdown after billion dollar upgrades resulted in radiation leaks. http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1335/ML13357A058.pdf

Her questioning of the plan's advocates reveals that it relies on monitoring technologies that do not yet exist, and, despite faith-based assurances, may not exist in time - or at all - to make the plan viable for storage or transport of the nuclear waste. 

Yet all the Commissioners voted to approve the Coastal permit. Why?
 
Over 1600 metric tons of accumulated highly radioactive waste from San Onofre's years of operation will be stored indefinitely, close to the beach and water table, in a corrosive seaside environment, in a tsunami zone, in thin stainless steel containers that are similar to those that have been shown to crack and leak in such an environment, in less than 20 years.

Mark Lombard, NRC Director of Spent Fuel Management, admits there is no technology to inspect for cracks and says there won't be through-wall cracks (leaks) for at least 20 years.  

It takes 16 years for cracks to grow through the wall of the thin (1/2" to 5/8") canisters. Therefore, there may be cracks within the 20 year license period. He doesn't mention that the Holtec canisters are approved for 20 years for storage only, not for transport. 

Lombard does NOT mention that even the Holtec canister manufacturer, Kris Singh, states the canisters cannot be repaired. https://youtu.be/euaFZt0YPi4  

Lombard does NOT mention that thick cask technology used in most of the rest of the world can be inspected, maintained, transported and does not have these cracking problems.  

Lombard does NOT mention canisters with any cracking are not approved for transport. 
 
NRC Regulation 10 CFR § 71.85 (a): Before the first use of any packaging for the shipment of licensed material — (a) The certificate holder shall ascertain that there are no cracks, pinholes, uncontrolled voids, or other defects that could significantly reduce the effectiveness of the packaging. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part071/full-text.html#part071-0085

NRC Certificate of Compliance NUHOMS-MP197HB [transport cask], Certificate 9302, April 23, 2014, Page 17, “For any DSC [Dry Storage Canister] that has been used in storage, the condition of the DSC must be evaluated, prior to transportation, to verify that the integrity of the canister is maintained.” http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1411/ML14114A099.pdf

Over 1500 similar canisters are installed above ground in the U.S. and the numbers continue to grow.  If implemented, the seriously flawed SCE Holtec radwaste plan could set a precedent and model pattern for short-term and long-term, on-site radioactive waste storage at over 80 U.S. nuclear facilities in 34 states. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/map-fuel-storage-facilities.pdf 

The California Coastal Commission seems poised to give final approval of the flawed SCE plan at a future meeting. That's why these questions are pivotal. For more information & to get involved: SanOnofreSafety.org, SecureNuclearWaste.org, NoNukesCA.org