Friday, December 30, 2011

Regulators Allow Radioactive Dumping At San Onofre Too...



Is the Japanese government and the IAEA protecting the nuclear industry and not the people of Japan by claiming that Fukushima is stable when it is not? Fairewinds’ chief engineer Arnie Gundersen outlines major inconsistencies and double-speak by the IAEA, Japanese Government, and TEPCO claiming that the Fukushima accident is over. Dynamic versus static equilibrium, escalated dose exposures to the Japanese children and nuclear workers, and the blending of radioactive materials with non-contaminated material and spreading this contaminated ash throughout Japan are only a small part of this ongoing nuclear tragedy.

Radioactive Waste: The San Onofre File

San Onofre’s liquid radwastes flow out of the plants through “outflows” pipes and empty into the Pacific. According to the plant’s 2007 Radioactive Effluent Release Report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there were 202 liquid effluent “batch” releases that year. These releases lasted a total of 489 hours, or over 20 days. The longest was 7.6 hours in duration. The releases averaged 2.4 hours.

The releases contained many dangerous radioactive chemicals, including cesium 137, cobalt 60, iodine 131 and strontium 90. Cesium 137 has a radioactive life of over 300 years, cobalt 60′s over 50 years, and strontium 90′s almost 300. Iodine 131′s radioactive life is only a few months, but during that time it is intensely radioactive. I-131 mimics regular iodine, and concentrates in the thyroid gland if it enters our bodies. I-131 caused high rates of thyroid cancer.. read more



Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Total Cost of Fukushima Arnie Gundersen and Warren Pollock


Arnie Gundersen of Fairwinds Associates (a leading nuclear expert) and Warren Pollock (http://www.wepollock.com) redefine the Fukushima nuclear incidents (meltdowns and explosions) in terms of human and total cost. Its easy to look at the details of a highly complex speciality, but it has been hard to quantify the cost and risk of nuclear power up to now! We talk about the rate of failure of nuclear being so high that were that rate applied to aviation there would be no air travel. Nuclear is different in that you have no choice in trading risk for travel, or in this case risk for energy. During 9-11 human value in the western world was quantified in an actuarial model which put each person at a value of $1.8 million dollars. Gundersen explains that up to 1 Million people will be damaged by this incident which puts the total damage well into the trillions of dollars. The full cost of nuclear power has to consider human cost and costs of contamination to the environment. We clarify some important issues regarding radiation and particulate matter.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cancer Epidemic in San Clemente



Is cancer an epidemic in America? by Ace Hoffman

A friend and I were looking back at 2011. She remarked about all the cancer she's seen this year. Last month she lost a close friend -- a woman in her 30s. Another friend, 40, has bladder cancer for the second time.

My step-mother recently made a similar remark about cancer in my own family. She lives on the other side of the country and the family is scattered all over the globe. One brother-in-law has stomach cancer which has metastasized, and many of us are cancer survivors (including me (bladder, 2007)). And on my own newsletter list I know of a number of ongoing cancer cases as well.

It feels like an epidemic, but of course, the epidemiologists who work for the state or the federal government would undoubtedly tell us they can't discern anything "statistically significant" (they love that phrase!) from our "data" -- it's just a few random points, it doesn't show a trend. That's true of course -- but we're talking about real lives of our friends and families, not raw, impersonal numbers. We're looking for answers.

Click here to read more 

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sign the Petition for the California Nuclear Initiative


“If the NRC does not do its job, the American people will demand the ultimate protection – the shutdown of old nuclear power plants…”, says Senator Barbara Boxer to NRC Commissioners on 12/15/2011.

The California Nuclear Initiative proposes to do just that.

We need your help to effectively shut down the two dangerous nuclear power plants in California — San Onofre in San Clemente and Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo. Our safety and financial future are at stake.

Please sign the petition and help circulate petitions so the California Nuclear Initiative can get on the ballot for the November 2012 election.

The people in California still have the right to vote to make change happen. However, the system only works if you participate.

Go to the California Nuclear Initiative website to download petitions, to learn more about this initiative and about how you can help make a difference.

For more information about the safety issues at San Onofre go to SanOnofreSafety.org.

We only have until April 2012 to get 504,760 valid voter signatures, so please do it now! This is an all volunteer grassroots campaign, so we need your help to make this happen.

Thank you.

Friday, December 16, 2011

NRC COMMISSIONERS PLAYING GAMES WITH OUR HEALTH & SAFETY

OUTRAGED EXPRESS THAT FOUR NRC COMMISSIONERS ARE PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES WITH THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

1. We believe it is outrageous that the NRC commissioners are playing political games with health and safety of the American public.

2. Four NRC Commissioners are trying to delay and weaken new safety regulations deemed necessary for U.S. nuclear power plants in a post-Fukushima environment.Instead these commissioners are trying to divert attention from their responsibilities to the public by a public fight with the NRC chair. The issue is what is NRC doing to improve safety, not who gets along with whom.

            3. Nuclear accidents are forever; radiation released by a single event can create cancer,                                    genetic mutations and birth defects, and would bankrupt California.


4. Our lives and the life all future generations depend on this federal agency acting on behalf of the people, not the nuclear industry as these four commissioners are positioning themselves to do.

5. This is yet another example of the history of the NRC and is why there is a California Ballot Initiative to shut down San Onofre and Diablo Canyon gatherings signatures right now for the November 2012 election, available at: Californianuclearinitiative.com

6. At a hearing held by Senator Boxer on December 15 she says to the NRC commissioners, “Let me tell you what happens when people lose confidence in the NRC and the nuclear industry. Right now, there is a petition being circulated for a ballot initiative that would effectively shut down the two nuclear power plants in California. I believe we will see more of that across the country if America doesn't have confidence in the NRC.”

Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE), San Clemente Green;

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

SONGS was designed to be decommissioned in 2013.



At the mention of nuclear meltdown, and its cataclysmic results (hello Fukushima), the nuke industry's chorus erupts in unified denial, "It can't happen!" But it does happen. In Japan and Russia, nukes' tragic opera has no end. Reality, televises the unimaginable horrors of nuclear gone haywire, beginning with the end of WWII. Chernobyl does too. Now Fukushima is worse even. Facts is Facts: "San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station" SONGS was designed to be decommissioned in 2013. Today, SONGS is an old piece of machinery, sitting on sand, over earthquake faults, at water's edge, housing 4,000 tons of nuclear waste. The same overheated poision rendering Fukushima deadly forever after. It doesn't take a nuclear engineer to grasp the everlasting impacts of nuclear meltdown. But apparently, it takes a nuclear engineer to deny it. Shutting SONGS by 2013 was the promise. Its creators knew full well its safe life span. Super heated metals only last so long. 2013 was SONGS drop-dead date. But Edison wants to push the envelope. Move the goal posts. Is SONGS' measly 6.5% electrical output worth it? Is San Clemente worth it? Deniers will always deny. Maybe it's their job. Maybe they're trying to convince themselves. Whichever. It doesn't change SONGS' scary reality. Imagine SONGS gone. Doesn't that feel better? It does to me. Sorry meltdown deniers. We can live happily ever after without SONGS. But there are no guarantees, we can live with it. 2013 was the promise, for good reason. jerry collamer San Clemente Ca - 92672


Monday, December 12, 2011

Nuclear Statement of Concern


While the world's worst ongoing nuclear accident Fukushima continues to spew its toxic waste cocktail around the world, people sit and try to pretend nothing has happened and that there is no immediate danger. But the fact is there is danger to our food supply danger to our water supply, danger to the unborn DNA of our children, danger of many hundreds of thousands of cancers in the future. But the biggest danger of all is how the governments around the world are completely ignoring the ongoing nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima reactors, and that the fact they haven't rushed to the aid of Japan to help solve this problem. Another problem that is very concerning is the fact that the corporate news media has completely dropped the ball on keeping the public informed.

When did the people of the world voluntarily concede to be part of this uncontrolled nuclear experiment? When will we stand up and put an end to this experiment? I for one have had enough of nuclear accidents and nuclear weapons that threaten the health and safety of all life on our one and only planet.

It is past time but not too late to think of the generations to come that will inherit the earth, after all these are our children and grandchildren. We must work together.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

CNN interviews Arnie Gundersen about Nuclear Hot Particles in Japan and the US.



CNN's John King and Arnie Gundersen discuss "hot particles" detected in Seattle and Japan, the cozy relationship between Japanese regulator NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency) and plant owner TEPCO, and changes at the Fukushima accident site since March. John King and Arnie Gundersen also discuss how TEPCO's acknowledgement today of another error in calculating radiation dose more than doubles the amount of radioactivity to which people in the Northern Hemisphere have been exposed.



Saturday, December 10, 2011

"Nuclear Power, Private Profit, Public Risk" Special Presentation 5pm Occupy Irvine

#OccupyOC
San Clemente Green has been invited to speak at Occupy Irvine about nuclear power issues. This will be a well attended event with our supporters, the growing encampment in OC and will also be drawing from the Occupy LA movement. We are pleased to continue the momentum that our awareness campaign has gained by sharing our concerns with this peaceful and action-oriented group.

OCCUPY IRVINE
Topic - "Nuclear Power, Private Profit, Public Risk"
Where - One Civic Center at the intersection of Alton Pkwy and Harvard Ave.
When - Saturday, 12/10/11 from 5:00pm to 6:00pm (or stay for General Assembly meeting to follow).
* Parking is available at the adjacent Police Dept at first drive on Alton (or at Civic Center - not quite as close).
Dress VERY warm and bring a chair (and maybe a blanket!)

Also, please vote YES in the Shutdown San Onofre Poll at
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/11/23/poll-would-you-vote-to-shut-down-san-onofre/139673/

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Jerry Lopez Shut Down Nukes




We don't want anymore nuclear plants, you've got to shut them down - Jerry Lopez Pipeline Master


Our Water Our Life. @Surfrider Let's not get caught inside on this one California! #DecomSONGS
Keep Paddling To Stop Nukes

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Fukushima is in the mainstream news again, and it is not good.

 

The damaged nuclear power plant in Japan came a lot closer to a full meltdown last spring than first thought. The company that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said Wednesday that the radioactive core inside Reactor 1 burned through a concrete containment barrier and nearly reached the soil below.

The nuclear plant was heavily damaged by an earthquake and tsunami back in March. And as CBS News correspondent Lucy Craft reports, many in Japan are worried about what all of this is doing to their food.
Suburban housewife Toshiko Yasuda lives 170 miles away from the nuclear plant. Worried about radiation, she buys little at the grocery store nowadays.
She said: "Radiation-contaminated beef has turned up on the market. Broccoli, spinach and shiitake, too -- all discovered after they were already on sale. So I don't trust the government anymore."
CBS update says it like it is

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Airborne Radiation Spread From Fukushima & Hanford



Interview with Marco Kaltofen, PE, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, about his research studying airborne radioactive particles from Fukushima and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Nuclear Power = Insanity!

TEPCO: New Details on Reactor Damage

The likely state of Fukushima Daiichi 1
The likely state of Fukushima Daiichi 1
via NHK / November 30, 2011 /
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has announced the results of an analysis on the state of melted fuel in the plant’s Number 1 unit.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, and several research institutes made public their analyses on the melting of fuel rods at 3 of the plant’s units at a government-sponsored study meeting on Wednesday. The analyses were based on temperatures, amounts of cooling water and other data.
TEPCO said that in the worse case, all fuel rods in the plant’s Number 1 reactor may have melted and dropped through its bottom into a containment vessel. The bottom of the vessel is concrete covered with a steel plate.
The utility said the fuel may have eroded the bottom to a depth of 65 centimeters. The thinnest part of the section is only 37 centimeters thick.
TEPCO also said as much as 57 percent of the fuel in the plant’s Number 2 reactor and 63 percent in the Number 3 reactor may have melted, and that some of the melted fuel may have fallen through reactor vessels.
RELATED:
US media only mentions report about melt-through at Reactor No. 1, not melt-outs at No. 2 and 3 – ENEnews.com
New analysis of Fukushima core status – World Nuclear News
Melted nuclear fuel eroded reactor container by up to 65 cm: TEPCO – Daily Mainichi
Study Shows Deeper Meltdown at Japan Nuke Reactor – ABC News
Tepco Details Nuclear Fuel Damage – Wall Street Journal


"The earth and myself are of one mind." ~Chief Seattle, Nez Perce


"The earth and myself are of one mind." ~Chief Seattle, Nez Perce

Friday, November 25, 2011

The Circle Stands For Togetherness


"With us the circle stands for the togetherness of people who sit with one another around a fire, relatives and friends united in peace, while the Pipe passes from hand to hand. Once all the families in the villages were in turn circles within a larger circle, part of the larger hoop of the nation. The nation was only part of the universe, in itself circular circles within circles, within circles, with no beginning and no end.

“To us this is beautiful and fitting; symbol and reality at the same time, expressing the harmony of nature and life. Our circle is timeless, flowing; it is new life emerging from death – life winning out over death.”

“Our circle is timeless, flowing it is a new life emerging from death-life winning out over death. When we look at the world in the manner which the Great Spirit designed it, we can see why it makes sense to live in harmony with Great Nature: the trees grow and bear fruit, the fruit has seeds, the seeds fall to the ground, the ground grows new trees, old trees die to make way for the young. Any time we think we can interrupt this cycle or change it we will experience turmoil and confusion. The Human Cycle exists as the baby becomes the youth, the youth becomes the adult, the adult has children, the adult becomes the Elder, and the Elder teaches the youth. Elders go on to the Spirit World. Spirit comes into babies to produce new life.

-Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions






Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A Nuclear Issue; Trust But Verify



So the folks who run San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are seeking permission to bill you the ratepayers for a souped-up, $64 million earthquake fault study of the area around the aging nuke plant.

But who should oversee this study? Experts working directly for Southern California Edison (the company that runs San Onofre)? Or independent types, not directly beholden to SoCal Edison?

Hearings on this question were held in San Francisco last week, before an administrative law judge for the California Public Utility Commission.

“In a post-Fukushima world—the stakes are too high to let the utility police themselves." Click for more...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

NUKEFREECAL Call Gov Brown!

Action plan with #NukeFreeCal a new phone campaign to Governor Brown no relicensing of Ca nuclear power plant's 916- 445-2841 gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php stand for and with the people's for safety governor. California does not need to be the next Fukushima! Call today and often. One of the reasons to encourage them not to relicense is that neither of these two plants could be built under today's rules and guidelines for earthquakes and tsunamis, and the NRC will not force them to meet the standards of today but yet they will overlook and easily relicense them. Please share this with your friends and call 3 times a week or more.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

"Worldwide Nuclear Meltdown"




 Scientists at the federal Space Weather Prediction Center say that area is the most active part of the sun since 2005. It has dozens of sunspots, including one that is the size of 17 Earths.

 … “It’s still growing. The size is what blows me away.” Thursday’s flare wasn’t aimed at Earth. However, this active region is now slowly turning toward Earth, and scientists say it will be directly facing Earth in about five days. That storm region will only affect Earth if it shoots off flares and they hit our planet, which doesn’t always happen with stormy areas, said prediction center space scientist Joe Kunches.

The region will be facing Earth for about two weeks as it rotates, he said. Solar flares send out bursts of electromagnetic energy that can occasionally disrupt communications and electrical systems. Sourced Via The Intel Hub


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

San Clemente Meltdown Clock

Tick Tick Tick 




Who didn't protest their daily, 
childhood wake-up call,

"Get up, you'll be late for school!"

We like our sleep. 
Deep, deep sleep.
Wake us from it, and face our protest.

But protest, is what we do.

When the electric bill arrives, and it's 
off the chart high - we protest,
"Turn off those lights!"
Filling our car at the pump as the  
price flies past $50 we protest,
"The oil companies are screwing us!"
(actually it's Wall St, but that's a 
different conversation).
We protest when driving, 
"Hey, speed it up buddy, you're
blocking traffic." 
We protest when eating out, 
"This food is cold!"
We protest to the doctor, 
"My neck still hurts doc.
 Whatever you're prescribing, 
 ain't working." 

Protest shapes the emotional bow 
of Life's boat, as we plow thru troubled 
waters on our cruise to happiness - 
sailing towards the day's good stuff:
the smooth bits, 
the easy bits, 
the laughable bits, 
then whammo,
we hit a speed bump,
and boy do we protest,

"Where'd that come from?"
"Who put that there?"
"Why wasn't I notified?"
"Dang, I just spilled my coffee."

Chances are, we were notified the 
pesky speed bump was there, for 
safety's sake. 
To protect the neighborhood. 
Slowing traffic down to a safe 
and sane speed.

Slowing the fools of the world down 
before they kill us, is a protest-call 
worth making. And to keep making, 
until enough people hear it and finally, 
grudgingly, wake up.

But waking up, is hard to do.

The News is filled with protest calls 
not heard, and or worse - ignored. 
How many times have you thought,

"If I'd only known,"
or -
"Hey, I was too busy, okay,"  
as nightmare scenario crashes 
head-on into grizzled reality. 

"I knew the speed bump was there. 
 I watched them put it there. 
 Guess I forgot."

What is San Clemente's 40-year old 
wake-up call today? - SONGS.
A happy singsongy acronym, glossing 
over what we know is man's deadliest 
byproduct - nuclear meltdown.

Radioactive contamination on a global
scale. The plume no one escapes.
A 50-mile Evacuation Zone - here?
8-million people stuck in that Zone - here?

An old nuke-facility, sitting on fault lines, 
vulnerable to tsunami, and god knows
what else is worth shouting about.
A protest decades overdue.

SONGS' aged nuke-clock is ticking 
louder and louder, but waiting until the 
final alarm screams - "Evacuate Now!"
before shutting SONGS down, is too late. 

And "too-late" in nuke-lingo, is as they 
say, "all she wrote."

Apparently Chernobyl, 3-Mile Island and 
Fukushima haven't opened enough sleepy 
eyes and ears, to SONGS' deadly tune: 
nuclear meltdown never stops melting, ever.

We've gotten our wake-up call.
It's spelled F  u  k  u  s  h  i  m  a. 

Will we wake in time to flip SONGS' 
nuclear-switch to OFF?

Japan didn't.

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...

jerry collamer
San Clemente
Ca - 92672

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Dan Hirsch Speaking to San Clemente Fukushima USA


Dan Hirsch, Nuclear expert speaking to the People of San Clemente,

 Could Fukushima happen here?

 The answer is yes.

Special thanks to Ace Hoffman for this very important video!


Thursday, October 20, 2011

A Nuclear Issue - The Great Shake Out In San Clemente


Potassium iodide 


Tuesday night, October 18th, was at least a partial victory for us in this final meeting the city held in a series of three meetings on Lessons Learned from Fukushima. It was clear from the beginning that the council would not go as far as calling for an immediate shutdown, but we felt it was worth the effort to try to persuade them while also informing a public largely blind to the true dangers of San Onofre. In our awareness campaign alone, we distributed over 6000 fliers revealing reliable and verified facts that should concern those of us living within 50 miles of the second most dangerous nuclear power plant of all 104 in the USA. In the last four months we must have attended at least six televised city council meetings with passionate and persuasive requests to take action. Often we were criticized for being alarmists and extremists, but so were four of the top independent nuclear experts that we brought into the talks. It seemed no one wanted to hear the truth from us or anyone else.

But then the Staff Recommendation came out shortly before the meeting and had an alternative proposal similar to ours, citing many of the same issues, but falling short of demanding an immediate shutdown until after the lessons from Fukushima had been applied. We were glad to see one statement in particular calling for a moratorium on re-licensing until a permanent storage solution for the highly radioactive waste was available. That shuts down any likelihood of them going past 2022, but of course we don't think we have that kind of time to wait for the next major quake in our area.

Coincidentally, today is the practice run for the "Great Shake Out" which simulates a 7.8 on the San Andreas Fault, although they know that it could easily be an 8.0 or greater, (which is twice the power of a 7.8). The death and destruction they anticipate is staggering, and even at that, it has no consideration at all for nuclear fallout in case there are problems at San Onofre. Perhaps it is simply incalculable. How foolish can our planning efforts be if we anticipate a huge earthquake with such certainty in "The Great Shake Out" but act as if the big quake is highly unlikely when discussing vulnerabilities of a nuclear power plant only built to withstand a 7.0?

Anyway, after a long night of deliberations we were pleased to get a 5-0 Vote for the staff recommendation which was actually strengthened by additional language stressing urgency and a call to action for every city in Orange County to support this effort. That was bigger than anything we ever expected. We are very grateful to the leaders of our city for showing the courage and wisdom of holding these meetings for us and for reaching beyond their comfort zones to do what is right. It is certainly quite an accomplishment in a "company town" like ours when Edison claims to contribute over $200 million to our local economy per year.

Next post we'll provide the details of the letters that are actually produced by the city.
Related articles are available at the links below.

Local Nuclear Plant Under Microscope
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Is-San-Diego-Plant-Ready-for-Emerg...

Remove Nuclear Waste, Close La Pata Gap, San Clemente Officials Urge
http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/council-to-pressure-for-removal-of...

On Nuclear Issues, Council Aims for Balance
http://sanclementetimes.com/bookmark/16101086

San Clemente seeks O.C. support for nuclear-plant requests
http://www.ocregister.com/news/san-322688-nuclear-onofre.html




Saturday, October 15, 2011

Nuke Topic at San Clemente City Council 10-18-11

City Council will be meeting Tuesday at 6pm/City Hall after a 4 month long investigation into "Lessons Learned From Fukushima". The Staff Report  recommends a series of  letters supporting existing initiatives already underway to the higher ups in the chain of command regarding safety concerns at San Onofre. We are encouraged by the direction things are headed but feel more should be done to proceed towards a "thoughtful phase out" of San Onofre. This would be our third attempt to find more common ground in our community although we would feel much safer if the call for a shutdown was more immediate. Your attendance at this meeting helps assure that we will be included in playing an active role as the city grapples with this dangerous problem. Please wear something red to show solidarity if you can be there in person. If not, watch it live on TV Channel 30 or go to live.san-clemente.org to watch on the internet.

Trust But Verify San Clemente


In the words of a great American, Trust But Verify... 
San Clemente City Council, Where we can see live radiation readings on the city site? 
San Clemente City Council, Do you support the TOOTH FAIRY PROJECT? 
 Trust But Verify, anything less is not protecting the heath of your citizens.


Friday, October 14, 2011

San Clemente Downwinders




Downwinders refers to individuals and communities who are exposed to radioactive contamination...




Thursday, October 13, 2011

Replace Jen Tucker San Clemente

Jen Tucker San Clemente Disaster Guru #FAIL

Jen Tucker, SC's emergency preparedness guru, as a rule, 
paints a "no worries, we've got it covered" spin to a potential 
SONGS hiccup (nuke-jargon for "OMG Chet, it's happening!!!")
I've never heard her say otherwise.
And I've heard her a bunch.
But then, what's the other choice, scream, "We're All Doomed!"

Real estate honchos and chambers of commerce 
so hate the doomed-scenario.

Sad but true reality: in South County's post-disaster, post meltdown, 
post-radiation-plume, post evac dialogue, if we Shut SONGS Now, 
the hypothetical post-nuclear holocaust preparedness mumbo jumbo 
(which flies out the window anyway when the big-one hits, as chaos 
reigns supreme, aka Fukushima  and Chernobyl), becomes unnecessary.

That said - when counting I-5 freeway overpasses between SONGS
(San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) and Crown Valley Pkwy,
12 or so miles to the north = 12. 

1-overpass per mile. 
Hmm (what goes up, can come down).

Count'em. 
See what number you come up with. 
There may be more, where the I-5 freeway passes over, 
or under a city street, or rail line, or a creek below.

Continuing north to the 405 / I-5 interchange, at Alton Parkway: 
Overs and Unders equal = 1 per mile.

18 overpasses between SONGS and the 405?
Over or under 18-times, in 18-miles. 

4-years ago, in SJC, where I-5 spans Trubuco Creek, 
by total accident, Caltrans engineers discovered severe 
cracks in that I-5 span, and immediately retrofitted it.

I repeat - severe cracking, that was not supposed to be there.
By accident, they found it, and fixed it.

It's a safe bet, the most perfect evac-scenario conceived, 
fails, if just one of the 18, I-5 weak spots / overpasses / 
underpasses - collapse. Or in any way become
impassable. Then what?

Will the I-5 freeway, from Basilone Rd, to the 405, withstand an 8.0
at every elevated juncture?
Or a 7.5?
Or a 6.8?
Caltrans needs to give us the answer, quick.

Because, if even one cracks, when the big-one hits:
end of Evacuation Plan A (hello...Plan B?).

With SONGS shut for good, erases our one, big-bad negative 
when the big one does hit (as predicted).

So: Plan A - Shut SONGS now (for good).
Plan B: look for cracks in I-5, end-to-end, top-to-bottom, now.

Apologies to South County's chambers of commerce and 
realtors everywhere, for this unwelcome dose of 
evacuation Reality.

jerry collamer
San Clemente
Ca - 92672




Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Applying Lessons Learned From Fukushima in San Clemente


San Clemente: Are Regulators And The Nuclear Industry Applying The Valuable Lessons Learned From Fukushima? from Fairewinds Associates
Who is Arnie Gundersen?

Arnie is an energy advisor with 39-years of nuclear power engineering experience. A former nuclear industry senior vice president, he earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in nuclear engineering, holds a nuclear safety patent, and was a licensed reactor operator.

During his nuclear industry career, Arnie managed and coordinated projects at 70-nuclear power plants around the country. He currently speaks on television, radio, and at public meetings on the need for a new paradigm in energy production. An independent nuclear engineering and safety expert, Arnie provides testimony on nuclear operations, reliability, safety, and radiation issues to the NRC, Congressional and State Legislatures, and Government Agencies and Officials throughout the US, Canada, and internationally. In 2008, he was appointed by the Vermont Senate President to be the first Chair of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Oversight Panel. He has testified in numerous cases and before many different legislative bodies including the Czech Republic Senate.

Using knowledge from his Masters Thesis on Cooling Towers, Arnie analyzed and predicted problems with Vermont Yankee’s cooling towers three years prior to their 2007 collapse. His Environmental Court testimony concerned available and economically viable alternatives to cooling towers in order to reduce consumptive water use and the ecological damage caused by cooling tower drift and heated effluents.

As the former vice president in an engineering organization, Arnie led the team of engineers who developed the plans for decommissioning Shippingport, the first major nuclear power plant in the US to be fully dismantled. He was also an invited author on the first DOE Decommissioning Handbook. Source term reconstruction is a method of forensic engineering used to calculate radiation releases from various nuclear facilities after nuclear incidents or accidents.

Arnie is frequently called upon by public officials, attorneys, and intervenors, to perform source term reconstructions. His source term reconstruction efforts vary. Arnie has calculated exposures to oil workers, who received radiation exposure while working on wells. He has also calculated radiation releases to children with health concerns, who live near a nuclear facility, like the one that carted radioactive sewage off-site and spread it on farmers' fields. Finally, he has performed an accurate source term construction of the radiation releases from the Three Mile Island nuclear accident.

Also involved in his local community, Arnie has been a part-time math professor at Community College of Vermont (CCV) since 2007. He also taught high school physics and mathematics for 13 years and was an instructor at RPI's college reactor lab.


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Public Hearing TONIGHT





SONGS and NRC spoke. Now it's our turn,
to speak, listen and learn the Truth about
SONGS, and why the plant must close, now.

SCGreen has compiled an impressive group
of speakers from the nuke-industry, who oppose
nuclear generation of electricity.

I know you know.

Tonight the San Clemente Community Center - 6:30,
is a must come.

Reason being, we need a solid public turn-out
to show, we as a community are deeply concerned
about a Fukushima event happening here?

'Deeply concerned' is the under statement of the century
for every SC property owner.

JC



Monday, October 10, 2011

San Clemente Great Shake Out




A film depiction of the USGS ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario

Nuke Plants On Fault Lines In Tsunami Hazard Zones = Fukushima... Any Questions?



Friday, October 7, 2011

Fukushima USA Lessons Learned Public Hearing





Come take part!

The Lessons Learned from Fukushima Part Two:

Independent Experts about the Safety of the San Onofre Nuclear Waste Station.

Tues., Oct. 11 6:30 PM, San Clemente Community Center (100 N. Calle Seville).


ANY QUESTIONS???


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

NRC Too Cozy With Nuke Industry San Clemente

@Fairewinds disagrees with a recent New York Times Opinion that claims that #Fukushima was caused because Japanese regulators did not properly oversee Tokyo Electric. Fairewinds shows that in the United States, the same cozy relationship exists between the NRC and the nuclear industry. Proper regulation of nuclear power has been coopted worldwide by industry refusal to implement the cost to assure nuclear safety.


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Gary Headrick Questions The NRC




The NRC turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the citizens of San Clemente California.

Chilling Effects for Democracy in this Nuclear Mayberry by the Sea.

Time To Reformat the San Clemente City Council 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

NRC Lessons From Fukushima TONIGHT San Clemente



Facts that might inspire you to take a closer look and adjust your busy schedule in order to make it to these important meetings.

Did you know … SONGS has ten times more safety violations than the industry norm; just one of the many factors making it the second most dangerous nuclear power plant out of all 104 in the U.S.A?
Did you know … employees are being retaliated against for reporting safety concerns to management?
Did you know … SONGS was designed for a 7.0 quake, but is on a fault capable of an 8.0 (10 x more powerful)?
Did you know …SONGS intended lifespan ends in 2013, but was extended to 2022 and hopes to go until 2042?
Did you know … the “30’ tsunami wall” often claimed by the industry is only 14’ above high tide?
Did you know … over 4,000 tons of highly radioactive waste is stored on-site in "temporary" storage, accumulating at a rate of 500 pounds per day?
Did you know … 8.4 million people living in a fifty mile radius would need to evacuate if there is a meltdown?
Did you know … you are expected to “shelter in place” on your own for at least 3 days if you can't evacuate?
Did you know … your property or possessions can’t be insured against radiation exposure?
Did you know … for all the inherent risk, Californians get less than 7% of our power from SONGS, which could be replaced with energy efficiency and simple conservation measures right now?

Come learn from the experts and make informed decisions that could protect all that you love and cherish before it is too late.

          1.  San Clemente City Council Town Meeting,  Tues., Sept. 27 6:30 PM, The Lessons Learned from Fukushima Part One: The Nuclear Industry Point of View. San Clemente Community Center (100 N. Calle Seville).  

          2.   San Clemente City Council Town Meeting, Tues., Oct. 11 6:30 PM, The Lessons Learned from Fukushima Part Two:  Presentations from Independent Experts about the Safety of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. San Clemente Community Center (100 N. Calle Seville).  

     
 Learn more about nuclear power by visiting these websites:        
www.nirs.org;     www.nukefree.org;     www.acehoffman.org;     www.sanclementegreen.org;