Business & Tech

Nuke Shut Down: Edison Taps UC Prof as Liaison to Public

David Victor will serve as chairman of a new Community Engagement Panel formed to educate and involve the public.

Southern California Edison announced today that UC San Diego professor David Victor will serve as chairman of a new Community Engagement Panel formed to educate and involve the public during the decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

Victor, 48, a professor of international relations and director of the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation at UCSD's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.

He's considered an expert on energy markets and is recognized as forward-looking on critical energy issues, according to Ron Litzinger, president of Rosemead-based SCE, the plant's majority owner.

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“David Victor has the vision, leadership and experience to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to ensure the San Onofre decommissioning proceeds in a thoughtful and inclusive way,” Litzinger said. “He shares our commitment to leave the community better off given that it has been home to San Onofre for the past 40 years.”

The nuclear power plant along the northern San Diego County coastline near Orange County has been idle since January 2012, when a small, non-injury leak was discovered. Citing the costs of returning the two reactors to operation, Edison decided last June to shut down the facility.

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Edison operated and owns the majority of the plant. San Diego Gas & Electric owned 20 percent.

Edison said the panel will serve as a conduit of information between the owners and the public.

Victor said his work on the board of Electric Power Research Institute and as chairman of the institute's advisory council for two years helped prepare him for the CEP role.

“To serve a broader public mission, it's important to solicit views from a wide array of stakeholders,” Victor said. “Because I served in that role at EPRI, I know firsthand the importance of being responsive to diverse voices to ensure broad public interests are served in a major undertaking like decommissioning San Onofre.”

The panel was expected to meet quarterly.

--City News Service


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