Question: What actions, if any, should be taken by Edison International company to compensate the revenue lost by decommissioning the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California?
This question is addressed to the company shareholders of Southern California Edison and minority owner San Diego Gas & Electric Co. They are responsible of the activities and cost estimates after the decommission of the power plant. The report and detailed solutions need to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S.NRC.
Three policy options:
1. Status quo:
The first option is to remain current state of the power plant. San Onofre nuclear power plant filed permanent decommission of unit 1, 2 and 3 power reactor facilities in sequence between year 1998 and 2013. The facilities are now shut down and deactivated. The company organized a public auction to sell the remaining machinery and equipment to make up their lost of these facilities. No other decisions have been made for further cost control.
2. Remodel the sites into research facilities:
After the deactivation of the site and upon the approval of the NRC, the company can extract the value from the old power plant at the same time deal with its nuclear waste. In cooperation with research universities, government and other research facilities, the company can turn the site into a research center for nuclear waste studies, such as waste recycling and disposal. This is an ideal site for experiments and applications. In this way, the company can sustainably remodel this site while gain technology advantage by the results from research. However, there are certain issues associated with this option. Safety, environmental impact and opinions from nearby communities are the major concerns, since nuclear waste is a health- and environmental- sensitive topic all the time.
3. Collect revenue from reallocation:
The company can also give up this site and put the excess human, financial, technological resource into other company branches or other fields of study. The site can be sold or rented by others after all the waste are disposed and the commission process is put to a closure. During this time, the company can develop an other site using the resource from San Onofre nuclear power plant. The staff are familiar with the company goals and regulations. They can be reallocated to other existing offices or the new office. The financial plan can also be redirected to the new office.
This is an interesting problem! I like it! The question is well analyzed and you mentioned the right client to solve the problem. Three policy questions are well organized as well, including the default status quo one, Remodel the sites into research facilities and Collect revenue from reallocation. I personally think the third solution works best in this case in terms of effectiveness and efficiencies. Anyway, good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Shiqi,
ReplyDeleteI like how you frame the question. It also clearly deals with innovation policy which is the most relevant aspect for this class. It is noticeable that you have a good background on the questions and the policy options are pretty specific. For the next step, I would continue developing and precising these options. For example, it is necessary to think about the output and outcome of each of the options. What public value will they create?