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San Onofre - Unit 1

1.0 Site Identification

2.0 Site Status Summary

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), operated by Southern California Edison (SCE), is located between I-5 and the Pacific Ocean, within the boundary of the Camp Pendleton military reserve, approximately 100 km (60 mi) south of Los Angeles, and 6.5 km (4 mi) south of San Clemente, California. At its peak, the site encompassed three nuclear power plants. SONGS Unit 2 and Unit 3 are expected to continue operating until about 2022. By contrast, Unit 1 (also known as SONGS-1) , a Westinghouse 3-loop pressurized-water reactor (PWR) constructed by Bechtel and rated at 1347 Megawatt (MWt), was constructed in 1964 – 1967, and began commercial operation on January 1, 1968. SONGS-1 subsequently ceased operation and was shutdown on November 30, 1992.

Defueling of SONGS-1 completed on March 6, 1993, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications on December 28, 1993. Then, on November 3, 1994, SCE submitted a Proposed Decommissioning Plan to place SONGS-1 in SAFSTOR until the shutdown of Units 2 and 3, at the end of their licenses, which were extended until 2022 by license amendments in March 2000. However, on December 15, 1998, following a change in the NRC's decommissioning regulations, SCE submitted a post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) for SONGS-1, to commence DECON in 2000. Since that time, SCE has been actively decommissioning the facility, which has since been almost entirely dismantled. Most of the structures and equipment have been removed and disposed. The SONGS-1 turbine building was removed down to about 8 feet below grade, and the licensee completed internal segmentation and cutup of the reactor pressure vessel. However, the licensee was unable to make arrangements to ship the reactor pressure vessel for disposal because of the size and weight of the vessel and its shipping package. Consequently, the licensee plans to store the vessel onsite for the foreseeable future, as long as licensed activities are ongoing. In addition, the licensee transferred Unit 1 spent fuel to an onsite generally licensed independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). Water control remains active, and is processed through the Unit 2/3 wastewater treatment system. The fuel from Unit 1 was transferred to Phase 1 of the ISFSI, and the ISFSI will be expanded into the area previously occupied by Unit 1, as needed, in order to store all spent fuel from Units 2 and 3.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

SCE plans to leave the offshore portions of the Unit 1 coolant intake and outlet pipes in place, under the Pacific Ocean seabed, release them for unrestricted use, and terminate its lease from California. This would constitute a partial site release prior to submission of the License Termination Plan (LTP) in accordance with Title 10, Section 50.83, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.83). Toward that end, SCE has submitted an Environmental Report to the State, and discussed its plans with the NRC in 2006. Also, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.83, SCE submitted a request to the NRC in December 2007, seeking authorization to release this system for unrestricted use. The NRC staff reviewed that amendment request and did not identify any issues, so the amendment is scheduled for issuance in November 2009.

During remediation activities inside containment, a breach of the containment vessel allowed water from the pedestal area to enter containment. When sampled, the water had elevated concentrations of tritium. As part of the groundwater initiative, sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), related to tritium releases into ground water, SCE installed several monitoring wells around the Unit 1 structures. Some concentrations above background were measured, but all are in non-potable saline water and are far below the drinking water limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Extraction wells were used to remediate all tritium that was above background.

The PSDAR states all Unit 1 equipment and structures will be removed from the site at the time of license termination, but SCE has stated that it may reconsider this later, and possibly leave some of the below-grade structures in place. For now, SCE has elected to leave the below-grade portions of the turbine building in place after grouting expansion joints and embedded pipes. Because SCE has not submitted an LTP for this unit, the NRC does not yet have an approved survey plan or residual concentration limits. Therefore, it is not known if the surveys done on these areas prior to grouting will meet the NRC's requirements for final status surveys at the time of request for license termination. Current survey data may not support this option, in which case, additional surveys (e.g. of the embedded piping) may be necessary. The licensee is also in the process of establishing a site-wide reference grid using global positioning satellite (GPS) coordinates, but some data have not yet been converted to the new grid system.

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

12/30/2030

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Friday, November 13, 2009