San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

A steel and concrete tube holding a 668-ton defunct nuclear reactor sits in a secured holding area along the Pacific Ocean at Onofre near San Clemente, Calif. In a few weeks, the cargo will leave Southern California by barge for a voyage around the tip of South America en route to its final resting place in a disposal facility in South Carolina. Critics say Southern California Edison is taking a foolish gamble by sailing the radioactive material through one of the world's most dangerous nautical passages.