Final Preparations for Containment Dome Demolition
With 2025 in the rearview mirror, our focus for 2026 is clear: safely finishing the removal of the supporting structures around the two containment domes and then preparing to demolish them. Work is already underway inside the Unit 3 containment dome, the first to come down starting in Q1 2027. With all its large components removed, including the two steam generators and the reactor vessel, crews will focus on demolishing the supporting structures and systems that housed them, as well as the steel lining of the dome.
Over in Unit 2, both steam generators are also gone. Only the reactor vessel remains, which is approximately 40 feet long and weighs 750,000 pounds. Crews are now systematically cutting the vessel into pieces for packaging and shipment offsite.
Work continues to be performed safely and efficiently. Since the first truck and rail car left the site, more than 630 million pounds of waste and debris have been removed.
We will be keeping the public informed of our progress and other timely topics at our quarterly SONGS Community Engagement Panel meetings. The next one is March 19.
Here is our annual look back at our progress in 2025 by the numbers and for the overall project:
- We have now removed 48 structures from the site.
- Almost 231.5 million pounds of waste was shipped offsite in 2025.
- Approximately 870,000 pounds of materials were recycled, for a project total of 108 million pounds to date.
- 1,179 rail cars transported waste and materials away in 2025. The total so far is 2,558 rail cars.
- 65 tours comprised more than 1,200 visitors in 2025 to view our progress.