SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.—San Clemente officially disapproved on April 5 of the storage of nuclear waste—several million pounds—at the permanently retired San Onofre nuclear power plant nearby, urging the U.S. Department of Energy to find a safer alternative location.
The city council unanimously approved a resolution stating the city does not consent to store the 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station north of San Diego County and south of San Clemente.
Calling it a matter of “high priority,” the council reaffirmed its stance on urging the U.S. Department of Energy to remove the nuclear waste from the plant as soon as possible to a storage site farther away from populated areas.
Residents and city officials have been expressing concerns over public safety as the plant is located within 10 miles of San Clemente’s approximately 65,000 residents.
Through the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, U.S. Congress assigned the energy department to create an underground repository for nuclear waste.
The Department of Energy restarted last year a program that would identify communities across the country willing to store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.
Southern California Edison permanently decommissioned the San Onofre plant in 2013 and has since distributed a three-volume set of plans to relocate 123 canisters of solid nuclear waste offsite.
