San Onofre Community Engagement Panel to Discuss Canister Incident, Decommissioning

The San Onofre Community Engagement Panel will discuss the Aug. 3 canister-loading incident and other nuclear plant decommissioning topics Nov. 29 in Oceanside during its quarterly meeting.

Fuel transfer operations at San Onofre have been on hold since the August event. During the loading of a used fuel canister into the Cavity Enclosure Container on the dry cask storage pad, the canister became wedged near the top of the container on an inner ring that helps to guide it into place. Slings that support the canister were lowered while the canister remained wedged. At no point during the incident was there a risk to employee or public safety.

The meeting will focus on the many changes made to strengthen canister-loading procedures, training and oversight in the months since the event, as well as the path forward for restarting fuel transfer operations.

SCE has committed to not restart spent fuel transfer operations until it is satisfied all corrective actions are in place and proven effective, the public has been briefed and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its on-site inspection actions.

Other topics to be discussed at the meeting include environmental permitting and radiation monitoring and reporting.

The regular quarterly meeting will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the QLN Conference Center, 1938 Avenida Del Oro, Oceanside. Staffed information booths will be open from 4:30-5:30 p.m. There will be public comment periods, and the meeting will be livestreamed via songscommunity.com.

SCE, majority owner of the San Onofre nuclear plant, announced in June 2013 that it had retired San Onofre Units 2 and 3 and had begun the process to decommission the facility. SCE has established core principles of safety, stewardship and engagement to guide decommissioning.

For more information about San Onofre, visit songscommunity.com.

About Southern California Edison

An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.

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Southern California EdisonMedia Contact:John Dobken, [phone]