To help win the bid to manufacture and install the remaining on-site storage for decommissioning the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, dry cask makers pitched their products to the public. Cask makers Holtec and Areva discussed the safety precautions they put into their radioactive spent fuel storage to advance their standing during an Oct. 14 Nuclear Community Engagement Panel meeting. The panel is composed of experts and politicians. It publishes its activities, documents, and holds public meetings. The products of the two firms are comparable in that they both use redundant layers of materials to keep the fuel contained. “Both designs are exceptionally robust,” in their seismic protection, panel chair David Victor explained. Areva’s product is “like a Russian doll,” said Michael McMahon, company senior vice president—one container inside of another, inside of another, etc. For instance, their designs are geared for more-severe-than-expected earthquake movements. McMahon also noted that Areva’s products are designed to withstand a 4,000 lb. vehicle dropping from the sky at 195 mph, or a direct hit from a commercial-size airplane. Areva and Holtec qualified to be hired by the plant operator Southern California Edison, although the utility has yet to make a decision on which to hire. According to Tom Palmisano, the utility’s chief nuclear officer, the choice will be based on the following criteria: • A company being “around for the long term;” • A firm providing maintenance and repair after the casks’ installation and into the future; • One adapting to the “unique” requirements of San Onofre, “particularly in the seismic area”; and • A company having a strong presence in the U.S. The public and the panel are taking seriously the “long-term” potential for waste to stay on site. Scientists assume the half-life—the time it takes half of the longest-lived radiation to decay—is 24,000 years. The meeting raised questions over the responsibility to watch over the facility after it’s decommissioned. Palmisano said Edison’s responsible for a 24/7 presence—until, and unless, the Department of Energy takes over the waste. “I’m more worried about whether Edison’s going to be around in the next 50-100 years,” said panelist Bill Parker, University of California, Irvine, physics professor. He and others noted that utilities as they’re structured now have only been around for a century so far, and that there could be changes in structure in near future. Edison started in 1909. T here are 2,776 fuel assemblies in spent fuel pools in units 2 and 3 and 800 of unit 2 and 3 assemblies in dry storage. In addition, there are about 400 unit 1 used fuel assemblies in dry storage, according to Edison.
