Moving forward with Decommissioning San Onofre

“ROSEMEAD, Calif. June 7, 2013 Southern California Edison (SCE) has decided to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).”

 It was a great day for many individuals and groups who had come together to work for the greater good and safety of their communities.  From LA to SD and points in between, and in fact across the nation.  At times it was more than interesting to watch so many different individual opinions and ideas and methods coalesce to work together.  The Angeles chapter Sierra Club, Peace Resource Center of SD, San Onofre Safety, Decommission San Onofre, San Clemente Green and ROSE, these working groups & individuals became known as the “Coalition to Decommison San Onofre”.  It was like the universe itself had appointed this time and place for these people and groups to come together and develop a vortex of energy for the purpose of speaking truth to power about the extreme dangers sitting on the California coastline at San Onofre known as San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Please believe me when I say it was not any one individual or one single group that did this alone. It was in fact everyone who informed themselves on the issues, worked, organized, prayed, donated time and money and showed up to speak at meetings all around Southern California. I am sure these coalition members and individuals are committed to staying strong and working for the continued good of the community.   It seemed this time and place was appointed by something beyond ourselves.

While I was hoping to take some time off to see the grandkids, finish some art pieces, and maybe take care of my health, California Edison called saying we would like someone from the anti-nuclear perspective to sit on their new Community Engagement Panel (CEP) for the decommissioning of SONGS, and would I as founder of ROSE do it? I had hoped as we all did that others from our highly energized coalition would be represented on the new CEP.  At first I reluctantly said yes. But after thinking about it I can only hope that the universe has made a new appointment for us to help develop a new vortex of energy with the new CEP for the safe, sane and economical decommissioning of units 2 and 3 and the safest storage and removal in time of the extremely dangerous toxic nuclear waste sitting near our homes, and finally to restore the land to the pristine conditions for the future generations of Californians to come.

Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE) Response and Pledge to SCE’s statement of core principles and values for the decommissioning of San Onofre.

ROSE is pleased to see the SCE “Statement of core principles and values for the decommissioning of San Onofre” and is happy to sit on the Community Engagement Panel (CEP) with other community members. ROSE pledges to Southern California residents & SCE to help Southern California Edison keep these principles and core values alive every step along the way during this process. ROSE pledges to help SCE become a model for the nuclear industry in safe and sane decommissioning of our nation’s dangerous and aging nuclear fleet. ROSE pledges to stand for cleaning the SONGS site of radiation to the best degree possible in the most economical way for the ratepayers. ROSE pledges to stand for worker safety in all areas of decommissioning of San Onofre. ROSE pledges to help SCE understand and use best practices in the process even if we have to rethink them. ROSE pledges to stand for the removal of all radioactive materials from the site as soon as it is possible and restore this site to its natural condition.

It is clear that DOE and NRC studies pertaining to the storage of San Onofre’s High Burnup fuel have not been completed at this point in time, and the best practice for dealing with this extremely high radioactive fuel and the timeframe for doing so is unclear and has no consensus in the community and scientists working on this problem.

I hope other members of the newly appointed CEP will join me in this Pledge to the future of all Californians and the many generations to come.