AECOM, EnergySolutions joint venture wins San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station decommissioning contract

Los Angeles — Southern California Edison (SCE) selected AECOM and EnergySolutions, a nuclear waste management and decommissioning services firm, as the decommissioning general contractor for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station through their joint venture, SONGS Decommissioning Solutions (SDS).

The Decommissioning General Contract represents a significant portion of the work required to safely decommission the San Onofre nuclear plant. San Onofre is one of the largest commercial nuclear plant decommissioning projects to date in the United States with an estimated total cost of $4.4 billion including used fuel management, radiological decommissioning and site restoration costs. The project is expected to create about 600 new jobs over the 10-year dismantlement and decontamination phase. The value of the contract will be included in AECOM’s backlog for the first quarter of fiscal year 2017.

“We are proud to be selected for one of the largest and most technically complex projects in the country, leveraging capabilities across all of our segments to ensure the safe decommissioning of the San Onofre nuclear plant,” said Michael S. Burke, AECOM’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This win is a tremendous accomplishment for our joint venture team with EnergySolutions, and underscores our collective industry-leading expertise within a substantial global nuclear market.”

“We are pleased to be a part of the team selected to decommission the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and look forward to working with AECOM to complete this project,” said Ken Robuck, President of Disposal and Nuclear Decommissioning at EnergySolutions. “We are currently decommissioning two nuclear power stations in Wisconsin and Illinois and are uniquely qualified for decommissioning projects with state-of-the-art facilities to process and dispose of waste that will be generated throughout the course of this project.”

SDS combines more than 50 years of global decommissioning experience between AECOM and EnergySolutions. The joint venture will be responsible for the dismantlement and decontamination work, restoration of the site and reduction of residual radioactivity to levels that allow for future site use. Its project execution and waste disposal approach will provide a seamless integration and predictable outcomes from the site to disposal. The joint venture will adhere to California’s regulatory and environmental requirements and is aligned with Southern California Edison’s foundational principles of Safety, Stewardship and Engagement.

Leveraging capabilities across its business segments, AECOM brings an integrated project execution model that spans the removal of contaminated components, systems and demolition of non-safety related structures. The company has a proven track record providing decontamination and decommissioning services around the world, including its work at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge site.

EnergySolutions’ customers include commercial nuclear power plants and other commercial and government nuclear facilities offering a unique approach to this project with decades of experience in decommissioning shutdown nuclear reactors, addressing the full life cycle of radioactive and hazardous material generation from characterization to off-site shipment for processing, volume reduction and disposition. The company is currently in the demolition phase of decommissioning the Zion Nuclear Power Station located in Zion, Illinois and the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor in La Crosse, Wisconsin.