Well hello again, friendlies and lurkers alike.
My last post here was Oct 17, 2018, the directions and live stream for our second Community Symposium on Decommissioning San Onofre. That was eight years ago. A lot has changed. I live on a little farm in Overton County, Tennessee now, with goats, geese, a dog named Cora and more mowing than any one man deserves.
Some things haven't changed though. The waste is still on the beach.
Still on the beach
On Aug 7, 2020, Edison put the last canister into dry storage. That makes 123 canisters of spent nuclear fuel sitting at San Onofre. Rep. Mike Levin's office says it's still about 100 feet from the Pacific Ocean.
Remember the can that almost dropped 18 feet in August 2018? The NRC fined Edison $116,000 in March 2019 for that one, and for not telling them in time. Then loading started back up, and they finished.
The plant is going away, the waste isn't
The tear-down is moving right along. As of late October, Edison says 54 of 66 structures are gone and more than 750 million pounds of rubble has been shipped out by rail. The famous domes start coming down in early 2027, Unit 3 first, and the big work is supposed to be done by the end of 2028.
So pretty soon you'll drive past on the 5 and the domes will be gone. The canisters won't be. Folks will think the job is done. It's not.
No federal home for it
There's still no place to send it.
Holtec had a storage site planned in New Mexico. Even after the Supreme Court cleared the way in June 2025, Holtec canceled it in October 2025. Rep. Levin reintroduced his bill in February 2025 to move closed plants like San Onofre to the front of the line. It hasn't passed. His best guess now is that fuel might start moving sometime in the late 2030s. Allegedly.
And now it's looking at Tennessee
Here's where it gets personal.
On July 28, 2026, the Department of Energy named five states as possible hosts for what they're calling "Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses." Tennessee is one of them. These campuses can include what DOE calls "final disposition of used nuclear fuel." In plain words, that means where the waste ends up.
In September, Edison told the LA Times it's in discussions with Utah and Tennessee about how it can help.
Tennessee's own page says the state has identified areas that may be suitable for a long-term repository, outside of the main campus at Oak Ridge. State Rep. Kelly Keisling says the state's proposal flagged Pickett, Fentress, Morgan and Scott counties. Clay County voted unanimously against a repository in September.
On Nov 2, Fentress County was dropped after its commission voted no and thousands of people signed a petition. Good on them. As far as I can tell, Pickett and Scott have not been ruled out.
And here's the thing about the rock. Around the Big South Fork in Fentress, Morgan, Pickett and Scott, the top layers are mostly sandstone and shale, with limestone underneath. Limestone here is riddled with sinkholes, caves, underground streams and fast-moving groundwater, and the USGS calls that kind of karst "extremely vulnerable to contamination." Sandstone is no rock to hide waste in either; the USGS says it's the most widespread rock aquifer there is, with water moving along its layers and cracks. Both let water through, and the state's own plan admits the area has "unknown parameters" that need more study.
What we need is a dump in a state with real hard rock, like granite. Finland went the hard-rock route. Its Onkalo repository puts the waste in sealed canisters packed in bentonite clay, 400 to 430 meters down in bedrock. Granite isn't perfect, it cracks too, and a Sandia study for the Department of Energy says the small fractures can't be avoided, which is why the canisters and clay matter so much. Hard rock, good engineering and real consent. Not the beach, and not cave country.
Still no real-time radiation feed
Back in 2018 we were up on the pad with our bGeigies asking for real-time public radiation monitoring. What we got, in early 2020, was three monitors on the storage pad plus one control monitor. The readings go to the state, and the public gets a monthly report with highs, lows and averages. That's better than nothing. It's still not a live feed you can pull up on your phone, and there's nothing watching each canister's vents.
From OC to OC
So I went from OC to OC, Orange County, California to Overton County, Tennessee. I figured I'd left the nuke waste behind with the surf. Small Whirld.
I still want the same thing I wanted in 2018. Get the waste off the beach, away from the fault and the tsunami zone. Put it somewhere that actually makes sense, picked with real consent from the people who live there. Don't just shuffle it from one beautiful place to another. And let the public see the radiation numbers in real time, wherever it ends up.
It's complicated. It always was.
If you're in the Upper Cumberland, pay attention, show up and speak up. #DontTrashTN
Let's connect:
- In real life: Meet your #SMMOC host
- In real time: @DarinRMcClure on X
- With what's up: My YouTube
Aloha and peace,
~ Darin 🖖😎
Darin R. McClure
Chief Goat Herder
