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Politics

San Onofre Security, Storage Topic Of Panel Discussion

A dry cask storage system for spent nuclear fuel.
Holtec International
A dry cask storage system for spent nuclear fuel.

Security and storage at the now-shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will be on the agenda of a Community Engagement Panel Thursday night. The panel will be hosted by Southern California Edison in San Juan Capistrano.

Edison is proposing to bury tons of highly radioactive waste in stainless steel casks at San Onofre. The casks will remain there indefinitely since the federal government has failed to agree on a long-term storage site.

UC San Diego professor and panel chairman David Victor said local communities need to work together to lobby state agencies — like the California Department of Energy — to jump start the process of looking for a consolidated interim storage site for nuclear waste.

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Private companies have already proposed nuclear waste storage sites in Utah and Texas, Victor said.

“Could money that’s already been paid to the federal government and is sitting in a trust fund for storage — could some of that money be redirected to some of these private enterprises and create the strongest incentive possible for the private sector to help out with the solution here?” Victor asked.

Thursday’s meeting will also focus on the role of local law enforcement in maintaining security at the site, Victor said.

The Community Engagement Panel meeting will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center at 32400 Paseo Adelanto.