Resumption of fuel transfer operations is expected to start with a canister that was previously loaded with spent fuel assemblies
Image: The commission allowed SCE to safely resume downloading spent fuel canisters following the inspection. Photo: Courtesy of Jelson25/Wikipedia.org.
Southern California Edison (SCE) announced its plans to restart the spent nuclear fuel transfer operations at the San Onofre nuclear plant following a rigorous regulatory, internal and third-party readiness and operational reviews.
Following an incident in August 2018, when a canister became wedged during the downloading process, SCE has put hold on the transfer of fuel from wet to dry storage. The canister has been placed into storage safely.
SCE has made improvements to the site’s corrective action program
Along with its contractor Holtec, SCE has systematically reviewed and reinforced procedures, oversight and training, which directly supports effective fuel transfer program, over the past 11 months.
In addition, the new technologies including cameras and load monitoring gauges have been introduced as part of the reviews, to enhance the transfer process.
The corrective action program at the site has also been improved for better identification of potential issues in advance.
SCE vice president and chief nuclear officer Doug Bauder said: “We’ve done a lot of work to ensure that going forward we will be successful in safely loading and storing each and every spent fuel canister. We’re confident the improvements we’ve made are effective and sustainable. Our job now is to demonstrate that to our stakeholders.”
The corrective action along with enhancements SCE has made to the overall program was inspected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
SCE said that the commission has reviewed the data and found that the canisters maintain their safety function even with wear marks and minor scratches.
Following the inspection, the commission allowed SCE to safely resume downloading spent fuel canisters,
Resumption of fuel transfer operations is expected to start with a canister that was previously loaded with spent fuel assemblies.
Southern California Edison said in a statement: “Moving spent nuclear fuel to dry storage is an important step in the decommissioning of San Onofre. After receiving a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission, SCE will begin dismantling the plant and removing the major structures from the site.”