NRC San Onofre Ruling "A Dangerous Cover Up"

Regulators Cover for Edison: "No One at Fault"


July 20, 2012 (SAN CLEMENTE) – Yesterday's announcement by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stating that Southern California Edison (SCE) had complied with all regulations is yet another dangerous case of regulators looking the other way coupled with gutted unsafe regulations, according to local activist groups, including Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE), Citizens' Oversight, and the Peace Resource Center of San Diego.
"Either the regulations were insufficient and followed or sufficient but not followed, you can't have both," said Ray Lutz, National Coordinator of Citizens' Oversight. "Our regulatory process must safeguard against radiation leaks, emergency shutdowns, and $670 million steam generators failing within months of installation. To say that nothing is wrong takes the cake."
The ruling is absolutely astonishing, but unfortunately not surprising to those watching the process since any admission by NRC that the regulations were not followed would mean that they were asleep at the wheel, allowing SCE to flout the regulations to avoid a costly (but much safer) license amendment process including public and NRC review.
"It's a very sad commentary when regulatory agencies will allow transgressions to occur and will not speak out about them, to avoid scrutiny themselves," said Carol Jahnkow of the Peace Resource Center of San Diego.
Activist believe that any restart prior to CPUC determination of the cost effectiveness for the ratepayer is premature. Ratepayers should not be financially responsible for this debacle.
"California Edison's plan to restart reactor number two is extremely risky. Any restart could result is a cascading blowout, one tube influencing the next, and may even progress to a meltdown," said Gene Stone of ROSE, repeating a scenario described by nuclear industry expert Arnie Gundersen.
NRC officials said this morning that there would be no restart without public meetings and that SCE has not filed a response to the NRC action as of yet. "The NRC plans to hold several more public meetings in the vicinity of the plant before making any decision about restart of either of the San Onofre reactors" said Victor Dricks, Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission / Region IV Arlington, TX.
The NRC covered for Edison at the June 18 public meeting as well, saying that the cause of the failure was excessive steam velocity without digging back to the ultimate root cause. Edison's many design changes are the obvious culprit, with NRC officials watching from start to finish, never speaking up to force SCE to use the normal license amendment process.
Activists say they are planning protest activities in response to this stunning coverup by the NRC and SCE.

PRESS RELEASE 7/20/12

Residents Organizing for a Safe Environment (ROSE)
Gene Stone / genstonATsbcglobalDOTnet / 949-233-7724

Peace Resource Center of San Diego
Carol Jahnkow / caroljATigcDOTorg / 760-390-0775

Citizens' Oversight
Ray Lutz / RayLutzATCitizensOversightDOTorg / 619-820-5321
http://ShutDownSanOnofre.org

San Clemente Ocean Festival

Just give me the warm power of the sunGive me the steady flow of a waterfallGive me the spirit of living things as they return to clay.Just give me the restless power of the windGive me the comforting glow of a wood fireBut please take all of your atomic poison power away. 
Everybody needs some power I'm toldTo shield them from the darkness and the coldSome may see a way to take control when it's bought and sold. 
I know that lives are at stakeYours and mine and our descendants in time.There's so much to gain, so much to loseEveryone of us has to choose. 
Just give me the warm power of the sunGive me the steady flow of a waterfallGive me the spirit of living things as they return to clay.Just give me the restless power of the windGive me the comforting glow of a wood fireBut please take all of your atomic poison power away. 
We are only now beginning to seeHow delicate the balance of nature can beThe limits of her ways have been definedand we've crossed that line. 
Some don't even care or know that we'll payBut we have seen the face of death in our day.There's so little time to change our waysIf only we together can say 
Just give me the warm power of the sunGive me the steady flow of a waterfallGive me the spirit of living things as they return to clay.Just give me the restless power of the windGive me the comforting glow of a wood fireBut please take all of your atomic poison power away. 
Won't you do this for me?Take all of your atomic poison powerTake all of your atomic poison powerTake all of your atomic poison powerAway.

San Clemente City Council Nuke Free

TONIGHT San Clemente City Council is poised to make history yet again regarding the San Onofre nuclear power plant. They will consider calling for special hearings and investigations about SAFETY, COST and RELIABILITY in formal letters to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission. Please come out in support if you can make it. We are late in the agenda so you could probably get there by 8:00 and not miss it, (but come sooner just in case).

More people = More Influence on the Outcome

City Hall is at 100 Avenida Presidio, San Clemente 92672

Listen to this relevant radio interview on KPBS done yesterday.

Occupy Your City Council

Radiation 101 Class 1 @iRadGeiger

Radiation 101 slide show. 

How Cozy Are The Nuclear Industry & The NRC?

Let Fukushima be a warning to those that would let the fox guard the henhouse.

San Onofre Unit 2 & 3 Identical

Conclusion

Because the identical failure modes exist in both San Onofre Unit 2 and 3 and because the damage to both Units is especially excessive, when compared to the remainder of the US nuclear power plants, it is Fairewinds’ opinion that both Unit 2 and Unit 3 should remain shut down until extensive modifications or fabrication of replacement generators are completed, and Edison is granted the required 10CFR50.59 amendment to San Onofre Unit 2 and Unit 3 operating licenses.

San Onofre Steam Generators Doomed to Fail

San Onofre is located in an urban area on the coast south of San Clemente with millions of people, in a tsunami hazard zone, above intersecting active earthquake faults and has the worst safety record of all 104 reactors in the U.S. .