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NewsTimes of San DiegoAugust 31, 2026San Diego

Experts and officials highlight long-term risks of nuclear waste storage at San Onofre

Spent nuclear fuel remains stored at the decommissioned San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station with no clear timeline for removal to a permanent national repository. Experts and lawmakers are raising concerns about the facility's vulnerability to coastal erosion, rising sea levels, and seismic activity, while federal legislation has been introduced to create a new agency to manage national nuclear waste.

nuclear wasteSan Onofreenvironmental safetyenergy policygeologypublic health
Read the full story at Times of San Diego

Why It Matters

Residents living near the San Onofre facility face ongoing uncertainty regarding the long-term storage of 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste in a seismically active coastal zone.

Key Facts

  • 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel are currently stored at San Onofre.
  • The federal government has paid reactor owners approximately $9 billion in storage costs due to the lack of a permanent repository.
  • The federal government currently spends $2 million per day due to the failure to fulfill its obligation to find a permanent waste solution.
  • The proposed Yucca Mountain repository project stalled in 2010 after an estimated $15 billion investment.
  • San Onofre is located near the Rose Canyon Fault Zone, which has an estimated major earthquake recurrence interval of 700 years.
  • The facility is located between Interstate 5 and the Pacific Ocean, facing risks from coastal erosion and potential sea-level rise of up to 13 inches.
  • The Bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act was introduced in September 2024 to create an independent agency for waste management.
  • A Harvard study of 20,000 cancer cases found a correlation between cancer rates and proximity to nuclear plants within a three-mile radius.
  • There are 80 sites across the U.S. currently storing nuclear waste without a clear removal timeline.

Who's Mentioned

personJames Day“Professor of geosciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography”organizationSouthern California Edison“Operator of the San Onofre storage facility”personAlwadi Yazan“Harvard public health researcher”organizationNuclear Regulatory Commission“Federal regulator for nuclear storage”personGregory Jaczko“Former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”locationSan Onofre Nuclear Generating Station“Decommissioned nuclear power plant site”personMike Levin“U.S. Representative (D-CA)”locationYucca Mountain“Proposed federal nuclear repository site”