Edison Considers San Onofre License Review to Restart Reactors by Summer

In seeming accord with activists who have been lobbying for a formal review process before the San Onofre Generating Station could restart its shelved reactors, Southern California Edison announced it would consider seeking an amendment to its license.

Such an amendment would require a formal and public review process before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If approved, the amendment would allow the utility company to operate the shuttered Unit 2 steam generators at 70 percent power, according to Southern California Edison. However, the announcement was met with skepticism from activists, who decried it as a public relations stunt designed to mask an effort to circumvent a more rigorous review of the plant’s safety.

The company hopes to restart the generator by summer and has reached out the Atomic Safety Licensing Board to broach the amendment.

“We want to do every responsible thing we can do to get Unit 2 up and running safely before the summer heat hits our region,” SCE President Ron Litzinger, said in a written statement. “While the NRC continues to review the technical materials we’ve submitted, we’re considering a request for a license amendment so that we can pursue the best path to safe restart while avoiding unnecessary delays.”

Last week, SCE submitted a detailed operational assessment supporting plans to operate one shelved reactor at 100 percent power for 11 months. If approved by the NRC, the company would not need a license amendment. However, the approval process could take well into the summer, prompting the company to simultaneously consider the license amendment.

The announcement rankled Friends of the Earth, an activist group pushing for rigorous and public examination of the safety issues at the plant after a 2012 radioactive steam leak revealed that more than . San Onofre was shuttered as a result, and Southern California Edison has been attempting to convince regulators at least half the plant is safe to restart.

In a written release, Friends of the Earth said, “After more than a year of denial, Southern California Edison is ready to concede that a license amendment is needed before restarting one of the crippled reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. But,” added the group, “the utility’s request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would actually be an attempt to get around a rigorous license amendment proceeding with full examination of critical safety issues and public participation.”

In announcing plans to consider a license amendment, SCE indicated that it would submit a “No Significant Hazards Consideration” analysis demonstrating that the license amendment does not involve any significant safety risks.

“If the NRC grants the request under those conditions, the public would yet again be denied their lawful right to full and meaningful participation in the process,” responded Friends of the Earth. “The key issue will be whether they’re willing to address the multiple unresolved safety issues with San Onofre’s steam generators. In the past, Edison has requested minor amendments as a PR ploy to claim they’re complying with the process. It looks like they’re trying the same trick again.”

SCE is requesting a meeting with the NRC to discuss the possible amendment. The meeting would be open to the public, and it would address the timeline for restarting the generator and the regulatory requirements involved in the process.