Southern California Edison, the operator of San Onofore Nuclear Generation Station located on the Pacific Coast of California, has selected Holtec International to supply stainless steel canisters.
Approximately, 4,000 highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies need to be stored indefinitely on a narrow strip of land between Interstate 5 and the ocean, where the San Onofre nuclear power plant now stands. This is because a long-term storage site for nuclear waste in Nevada has been nixed. The fuel rods are radioactive for tens of thousands of years so as a result the fuel has to be enclosed in steel-lined, concrete pools filled with water called spent fuel pools, and sealed, stainless steel canisters that are housed in reinforced concrete structures. This process is called dry cask storage.”
In a recent press release Edison describes HoltecÂ’s canisters as, “Holtec’s HI-STORM UMAX underground storage system features corrosion-resistant, stainless-steel fuel canisters topped with a 24,000-pound steel and concrete lid. The canisters will be encased in a concrete monolith.”
Despite the nuclear power industry using this type of canister for the last three decades, some residents in the nearby area are concerned that the stainless steel casks are not “robust enough for indefinite, long-term storage” on the site. However, earlier this year, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the radioactive waste can be stored on nuclear plant sites indefinitely.