Decommissioning of the idled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County will cost an estimated $4.4 billion, according to a plan submitted Tuesday by majority owner Southern California Edison.
The plan, summed up in three documents submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, envisions major decommissioning work to begin in early 2016. The documents include a decommissioning plan, a cost estimate and how to manage spent fuel.
[…]
The project cost includes physical dismantlement of San Onofre Units 2 and 3 within 20 years, managing and storing the used nuclear fuel until it is accepted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and restoring the site for future use, subject to an easement agreement with the U.S. Navy, which owns the land.The decommissioning trust funds established by San Onofre’s owners currently total about $4.1 billion, according to Edison. Based on the updated cost estimate, anticipated cost escalation and future trust fund earnings, SCE said it believes the San Onofre decommissioning is fully funded and no further customer contributions will be required at this time.
Any unused funds will be returned to customers at the end of decommissioning.
Read more.
It is sobering to realize that decommissioning itself will leave behind a stockpile of spent fuel with nowhere to go.