The decision came down quite a while ago, but it now appears decommissioning the idled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County will cost $4.4 billion, according to a plan submitted by majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE).
The plan, summed up in three documents submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), envisions major decommissioning work to begin in early 2016. The documents include a decommissioning plan, a cost estimate and how to manage spent fuel.
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“These important regulatory submittals will guide us as we decommission San Onofre in a safe and timely manner while continuing to serve as good environmental and financial stewards on behalf of our customers and the public,’’ said Tom Palmisano, SCE vice president and chief nuclear officer.
The facility on the northern San Diego County coastline has been inoperative since January 2012, when workers found a small, non-injury leak in one of the two reactors. As it turns out, the other reactor happened to be down for maintenance at the time.
Last year, Edison shelved plans to restart the reactors in favor of retiring the plant.
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 ends up 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 has all the funding it will need.
Any unused funds will end up returned to customers at the end of decommissioning.
San Diego Gas & Electric owns 20 percent of the plant and received one-fifth of its power when it was operating.