ROSEMEAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The parties in a lawsuit challenging the expansion of interim dry cask storage at the San Onofre nuclear plant today notified a San Diego Superior Court judge they are requesting that a hearing in the case set for next week be postponed to accommodate settlement discussions.
In a stipulation filed today with the court, attorneys Michael Aguirre and Maria Severson on behalf of the plaintiffs, Southern California Edison, majority owner of San Onofre, and the state attorney general representing the California Coastal Commission asked for a continuance of the April 14 court date so they may pursue settlement.
“People of good will must come together and work to find a solution that is in the best interests of the people of the state of California,” said Aguirre.
“We believe the parties in the case and many community leaders share a common goal to transfer San Onofre’s used nuclear fuel off-site as soon as reasonably possible,” said Tom Palmisano, SCE vice president and chief nuclear officer. “We are hopeful that settlement discussions will permit the parties to reach a mutually agreeable solution.”
The suit was filed in November 2015 after the Coastal Commission granted SCE’s permit to expand dry cask storage of used nuclear fuel at San Onofre. One-third of San Onofre’s used fuel is currently in dry cask storage and the remaining two-thirds is currently stored in steel-lined concrete pools. In order to facilitate the safe decommissioning of the plant, SCE proposes to move the fuel from the pools into dry storage by 2019, where it would remain until an off-site storage facility becomes available.
For more information about San Onofre, visit songscommunity.com.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 15 million via 5 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
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