Should Irvine look to take a lead in relocating and storing San Onofre’s 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste?

The Irvine City Council is split.

Overlooking the coastline from its 84 acres on the northern edge of Camp Pendleton, just south of San Clemente, the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Plant has housed millions of pounds of spent nuclear fuel sealed in 123 stainless-steel canisters much longer than originally advertised.

The plant was decommissioned in 2013 after its steam generators were found to be faulty. The federal government vowed to find a permanent resting place for the byproduct, but as of 2025 , no nuclear waste has been picked up for permanent disposal.

The waste remains just 25 minutes away from Irvine and within 50 miles for about 8 million people. Th

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