S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , there are landmark along the five that will soon be gone. We'll discuss the demolition timeline for the two domes at the San Onofre nuclear plant. This is KPBS Midday Edition , connecting our communities through conversation. Since 2020 , crews have been dismantling the San Onofre nuclear plant. Piece by piece , you most likely recognize the plant from its iconic Twin domes. But the dome's days are numbered as crews prepped to remove them. Joining me with the latest is Alexander when he covers North County for KPBS. Alex , welcome.
S2: Thanks , Jade. Thanks. Thanks for having me.
S1: It's always great to have you in. So first , remind us of what happened to the spent nuclear waste at San Onofre.
S2: Well , it's still on site. It's in dry storage containers surrounded by heavy concrete , so it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
S1: So like are the let's see , what are the plans for this waste ? I mean , it's it's kind of been a priority , at least for people who live around there for quite some time.
S2: As far as demolition goes , it's quite a ways away from the demolition site , so it doesn't really affect the demolition at all.
S1: Okay , well , the plant was shut down in 2013.
S2: So the only thing the remaining now are the domes and the switchyard , which will connect , which will remain because it connects the transmission lines between Orange County and San Diego County. So that is remaining , because if you take that away , I think a lot of San Diegans would be so mad. Sure.
S1: Sure.
S2: And gravity will take care of the rest. So the domes will fall down , and they will repeat the process until they're all gone.
S1: Okay , so I imagine the domes falling down and dust flying up , so air quality has got to be a concern. Um , especially , you know , with , with pollution.
S2: They are worried about the dust and the pollution. So during the whole demolition process , from what I've seen they've been spraying water continuously as excavators work. And then , you know , as they have these big , huge concrete chunks , they take them inside these tents with negative pressure to break them down further , to put into these gondolas cars so that they can be removed off site , and then they will have an air monitors around the whole entire site. And really it's a radiation monitor just to see what the radiation levels are so that it doesn't exceed safety measures. And what the plan really is saying is that what's around the plan right now , just low level radiation , no more than background radiation , which is the radiation from the sun and everything that surrounds us. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: So that will remain. And then a small crew to monitor the radiation levels and maintain the dry storage facility. Mm.
S1: Mm. We're talking about , uh , you know , a pretty iconic , uh , uh , building there on , off the five.
S2: So there's a lot of jokes about that , you know , about reduction , but a lot of people are just expressing sadness at seeing them gone , because for so many San Diegans , it is how they know that they are almost home , or at least home in San Diego. And some have even suggested that we do a National Historic Monument declaration for it. But that's unrealistic because of the radiation concern. Concerns ? Yeah.
S1:
S2: I know that , uh , some surfers surf around there and they say , yeah , they kind of use it as a landmark and also as a guide to see where they are in the water. So , you know , so they don't get lost , I guess. Or not really , because , uh , surfing around that area is really good. So sometimes they get pushed off a little bit off site. So they kind of use that as a sort of gauge to where to see where they.
S1: Are , where they are. Well , you went up there to San Onofre to observe some of the demolition firsthand.
S2: There are several safety measures in place. And then when we left , they had to go through this decontamination chamber process to make sure that we haven't been exposed to high level of radiations. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , talk to me about some of those safety measures.
S2: Well , you know , they made us wear these , uh , radiation monitor on our badge so that when we walk around the site , it will measure the radiation level just so that we can see , like , hey , it's still a safe level. And then obviously hard hat , because it's still a construction area and then still toe boots. And then through. And then after we're done , as I say , they make us go through this decontamination chambers. Basically , it's just a radiation monitor , and they just kind of scan us to make sure that we are , you know , at a safe level to leave the site.
S1: Yeah , that's a lot.
S2: So not a lot of environmental concerns obviously , other than the spent nuclear waste on the site. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , there's still a lot of uncertainty around what will happen to the radioactive waste that is left. Has the federal government then decided on where and how they will dispose of that fuel ? I mean , I know earlier you talked a little bit about the federal government , but there's been this push for years and years to get something done and to get this this spent fuel moved.
S2: Yeah , I talked to the engineer on site , and they said the federal government was supposed to remove the nuclear fuel , a spent nuclear fuel of since 1998 , and it's 2026 and they haven't done that. Um , there have been talks about having it a repository at Yucca mountain in Nevada , but there's been a but that's been stalled because of political pushback and opposition. So as of right now , we have no idea where the nuclear fuel can go. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , San Diego County is also exploring ways to recycle that radioactive waste.
S2: I know within 90 days from November 1st that when they had that last meeting , that the staff is supposed to come back with a plan and maybe to see how feasible that might be. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Interesting.
S2:
S1: Nobody knows yet.
S2: Because it's , you know , there are some labs out there that actually are doing this , and I haven't looked too much further into that , so I have no idea what they could be used for. But it is interesting that I did not know that there are labs out there that could recycle , recycle nuclear waste. Yeah. So that is interesting.
S1: So yeah. Wow. It is an interesting possibility there.
S2: Um , it is an eight year process , and they are at about 80% of the way. Wow.
S1: Wow. All right , well , we'll continue to watch. I've been speaking with Alexander when he covers North County for KPBS. Alex , thank you so much.
S2: It's been great being here.
S1: That's our show for today.
S3: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
For the past five years, crews have been dismantling the San Onofre Nuclear Plant — which was shut down in 2013.
The plant is easily recognizable by its iconic twin domes along Interstate 5. But now, the domes' days are numbered, as crews prep to remove them.
We discuss the decommissioning effort and what this all means for the San Diego County landmark.
