San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station: A brief history

June 21, 2023, 7:00AMNuclear NewsJeremy Hampshire
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. (Photo: Southern California Edison)

Ten years ago this month, on June 7, 2013, Southern California Edison (SCE) communicated the decision to permanently shutter the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The decision set in motion the decommissioning of a plant that had provided steady baseload power for the region since 1968 during a period of tremendous growth in the western United States. In the end, issues presented by the planned replacement steam generators that were intended to support future plant operations proved too large of a hurdle, and the plant was forced to retire.

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