SAN ONOFRE -- Southern California Edison continues to hold a 770-ton political football while various federal agencies try to decide the best path to the end zone.

In a letter to the U.S Department of Transportation made public this week, the U.S. State Department said it has several significant concerns with Edison's plan to ship a decommissioned nuclear reactor from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station north of Oceanside to Barnwell, S.C., by way of South America. The journey was supposed to start in late October or early November, but Edison has been unable to obtain one final permit from the transportation department.

In his letter, John Dooley, the acting director of the State Department's Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs, questions the route that a barge will travel around the Cape of South America during its 11,000-mile journey.

Dooley also wrote that Edison has not adequately answered persistent questions from his department about whether it could salvage the bulky container if a storm, breakdown or human error caused the radioactive package to sink into international waters.

Inside the package of concrete and steel is San Onofre's first nuclear reactor. Though Edison still operates two larger reactors at the seaside site, the reactor vessel to be shipped was shut down in 1993.

Edison spokesman Ray Golden said the shipment will carry liability insurance that would allow up to a $50 million salvage operation if the package plunks into the Pacific.

"A lot of engineering has gone into this," Golden said. "We think the possibility of sinking is very remote, but we think that, with the insurance policy we have, we will be able to effect a rescue if necessary."

The Department of Transportation's Hazardous Waste division has also asked for more details on salvage plans, including whether Edison could haul the heavy container from water deeper than 300 feet. Golden said Edison plans to respond to the State Department's concerns, providing more information to the State and Transportation departments.

Golden said he was confident that Edison will not need to dramatically change its plans to ship the reactor to prove that its salvage plans are adequate.

"Even at a few thousand feet, we will be able to conduct a salvage operation if it's necessary," Golden said.

He said Edison plans to respond to the transportation department's request with information it already has, but he said it's too soon to determine when the journey might begin.

The carbon steel reactor core, officially called a "pressure vessel," is filled and surrounded with concrete and wrapped in a steel transport cask. The packaging is designed to dampen radiation leakage to acceptable levels. Edison officials have said that a person sitting atop the tan containment vessel for one hour would receive a dose of radiation equal to half a chest X-ray.

Golden said there is no reason why the container could not remain at San Onofre indefinitely. He said even a major earthquake would could not cause a leak.

"From a terrorism perspective it would not make a good target because it is much too dense," Golden said.

He said Edison only wants to move the container now because it is not sure how much longer the permanent burial site in South Carolina will continue accepting low-level nuclear waste.

Change of plans

Edison originally planned to ship the package by rail to its long-term burial site in South Carolina, but that trip was canceled when the rail company refused to accept any legal liability in the event of an accident. The package was too heavy to be hauled by plane or truck, Edison officials said, leaving the ocean as the only remaining alternative.

Current plans call for a special transport vehicle to haul the reactor vessel along the beach from San Onofre to the Del Mar Boat Basin at Camp Pendleton. From there, the vessel would be loaded onto a barge and hauled south, around South America before eventually docking in South Carolina.

But before the process can begin, Edison needs a domestic shipping permit from the federal transportation department.

"Because the trip starts and ends at U.S. ports, the (Department of Transportation) considers it a domestic trip, even though it goes around South America," Golden said.

Even if Edison eventually gets the permit it needs, it remains unclear whether the retired reactor will ever make it to its final resting place in Barnwell. In March 2003, the port in Charleston, S.C. indicated it would not accept the shipment, fearing it is a potential terrorist target.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.