California's history of nuclear waste and the political battle on how and where it should be stored.
President Eisenhower signs The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 giving the civilian nuclear power program more access to nuclear technology
PG&E constructs the first commercial nuclear plant in California. The unit generates 65 megawatts.
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, located on the coast between Los Angeles and San Diego, starts producing energy commercially from a single reactor. Southern California Edison jointly owns this reactor with San Diego Gas & Electric. This unit produces 436 megawatts
The Energy Reogranization Act of 1974 splinters tasks from the Atomic Energy Commission and establishes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the primary federal agency regulating commercial nuclear power plants
Sacramento Municipal Utility District brings the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant online. The plant generates 900 Megawatts of power
Pending a permanent nuclear waste repository, California places a moratorium on building new nuclear reactors.
Rather than restart Humboldt Bay after maintenance, PG&E dumps the reactor due to changes in nuclear safety standards. The utility decided it was not economically feasible to restart Humboldt Bay.
SCE and SDG&E bring a second reactor online at San Onofre. This unit generates 1,070 megawatts.
A third reactor goes online at San Onofre, generating 1,080 megawatts. Combined, the San Onofre Nuclear Plants generates 2586 MW
After years of hearings and litigation regarding earthquake safety, PG&E brings Diablo Canyon Nuclear Reactor online. This reactor generates 1,073 megawatts.
PG&E requests a license from the NRC to store nuclear fuel on site at Humboldt Bay Nuclear Reactor in dry casks.
PG&E’s second nuclear reactor at Diablo Canyon is powered up. This reactor generates 1,087 megawatts of power
Congress orders that Yucca Mountain in Nevada become the sole purpose of development for a high-level waste repository.
Two years after the license application, the NRC allows PG&E to store nuclear waste on site in dry casks.
After a series of maintenance problems and cost overruns, Rancho Seco becomes the first nuclear plant in the US to be shutdown by public referendum.
SMUD completely removes the fuel at Rancho Seco Generating Station and transfers them to wet pools.
SMUD submits a site-specific ISFSI application to the NRC using a dual purpose cask design.
After 24 years of operation, Southern California Edison shuts down San Onofre Unit 1 nuclear reactor.
11 years after submitting its application, PG&E is licensed to store remaining spent fuel from Humboldt Bay into dry casks.The ISFSI consists of concrete vaults where the fuel transport casks will be stored
11 years after SMUD defuels, the utility can now store spent fuel from the Rancho Seco plant in a dry cask
President Clinton vetoes legislation that would have cleared the way for thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste to be shipped to Yucca Mountain.
President Bush and Congress approve of Yucca Mountain as a viable repository site for high-level nuclear waste and spent fuel. The DOE spent $8.5 billion in its study of Yucca Mountain, including transportation and defense logistics.
202 metric tons of spent fuel at Rancho Seco were placed in dry storage at the onsite Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)
160 metric tons of spent fuel at Humboldt Bay Nuclear Reactor’s is transferred to the dry cask storage site.
The Obama administration announces plans to terminate the Yucca Mountain program and establish a blue-ribbon commission of experts to study alternatives. The commission will produce an interim report of recommendations expected by the end of July 2011 and a final report in early 2012.
A massive earthquake and tsunami lead to a partial meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, casting a new spotlight on spent fuel storage in the US
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