San
Onofre: The Reactor Saga Continues
By Mark Cousineau
The Surfrider Foundation's San Clemente chapter, working in coalition with
other environmental partners including the Sierra Club, is monitoring plans
for the decommissioning of the Unit One reactor at the San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station (SONGS).
The first of three nuclear reactors which were built above the legendary
breaks of San Onofre, Unit One is currently in the midst of being decommissioned.
As part of this process, all of the waste product has been relocated to storage
tanks on site and the concrete from the reactor's housing is being broken
out. At the heart of the current controversy is what to do with the former
reactor core—a huge hunk of irradiated metal, which is to be filled
with concrete.
At the time that the SONGS Unit One was constructed and licensed, it was
agreed that the reactor would be taken by barge to a disposal facility on
the East Coast. While this is still the plan, the method of how to get it
there has taken some unusual twists. Despite the fact that a major railway
freight line sits immediately adjacent to the reactor site, and that an interstate
highway is a mere stone's throw away, the operators of SONGS have proposed
a foolhardy idea of placing the reactor core on modified platform, and dragging
it down the beach to the harbor of Oceanside Harbor, where it will be then
loaded onto a transport ship. From Oceanside, the reactor will be loaded
on a barge and steamed through the Panama Canal to a disposal site in South
Carolina. Although Oceanside is only 20 minutes away by road or rail, the
proposed move down the beach is estimated to take 7 days and will cross several
streams and sea bird nesting areas.
According to SONGS officials, the rationale for moving the reactor housing
down the beach instead of utilizing a more traditional (and less environmentally
destructive) method of transportation, results from contract disputes and
insurance concerns. In other words, "who takes responsibility?" The railroad
is reluctant to accept the reactor as cargo and told the plant that they
would have to take complete responsibility for any accident. SONGS management
has balked at this idea, deciding instead that dragging the reactor down
a beach (across watersheds, nesting areas and adjacent to popular surf spots)
was less of a risk. Unfortunately, given the radioactive nature of the cargo,
State and Federal agencies have both approved the project in deference to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the requirement of limiting the time
of movement, the addition of biological monitoring and contingency plans.
The Surfrider and Sierra Club have stepped in to attempt to provide some
sanity to this nightmarish plan.
Just when it looked as if litigation was imminent, the plot took an unexpected
twist. The Panamanian government denied transport of the reactor through
the Canal, forcing project planners to redirect the transport ship around
the Cape of Good Hope (not what one would consider the calmest of seas).
Now, authorities in South Carolina have decided not to let the reactor into
their port. In a scenario reminiscent of New York trash barges of old, Unit
One is turning into an environmental pariah. The plan is currently back on
the drawing boards, but you can be sure that the Surfrider Foundation continues
to monitor the situation and is ready to protect our beaches and coastlines.
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