Health Effects Of Living Near A Nuclear Reactor

Nuclear Reactors, On Fault Lines In Tsunami Hazard Zones Equal Fukushimas
Decommission Diablo Canyon 

The two Diablo Canyon nuclear power reactors (Diablo Canyon) in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County are aging. They began operation in 1984 and 1985, respectively.

They are the only California nuclear power reactors still operating to produce electricity, after the San Onofre reactors were closed in June 2013. In 2010, 465,521 people lived within 50 miles of the plant.

As of 2010, the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant held 1126 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste, containing more radioactivity than that released during the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Diablo Canyon emitted more highly-toxic liquid tritium into the environment than any U.S. plant during the late 2000s.

A 2013 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that the discovery of “a previously unknown earthquake fault line running as close as 2,000 feet from Diablo Canyon’s two reactors…could cause more ground motion during an earthquake than the plant was designed to withstand. Since this new fault was discovered, the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] has not demonstrated that the reactors meet agency safety standards.”

Average radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) levels in baby teeth from San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties were 30.8% greater than the Sr-90 levels in all California baby teeth tested. In the state of California, Sr-90 levels in baby teeth rose steadily, increasing 50.2% in children born in the late 1990s vs. the late 1980s. Nuclear power plants are the only current source of Sr-90 emissions into the environment.

Major findings about local health patterns around the Diablo Nukes include:

1. Since the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant opened in the mid-1980s, San Luis Obispo County has changed from a relatively low-cancer to a high-cancer county.

2. Due to increases in the San Luis Obispo County cancer rate during 2001-2010, an additional 738 people were diagnosed with cancer.

3. Cancer incidence in San Luis Obispo County rose from 0.4% below to 6.9% above the average for the state of California during the time period of 1988-1990 to 2003-2010. The current cancer rate is the highest of all 20 counties in southern California.

4. After Diablo Canyon began operating, significant rapid increases occurred for the incidence of thyroid and female breast cancer in San Luis Obispo County, both highly radiosensitive cancers.

5. After Diablo Canyon began operating, infant mortality in San Luis Obispo County rose significantly.

6. After Diablo Canyon began operating, child/adolescent cancer mortality in the county rose rapidly.

7. Melanoma incidence in San Luis Obispo County soared from 3.6% above to 130.2% above the state incidence rate during the period from 1988-1990 to 2003-2010, and is now the highest of all California counties.

8. Cancer mortality for people of all ages in San Luis Obispo County rose from 5.1% below to 1.4% above California from 1988-1990 to 2008-2010, making SLO the 25thhighest county in the state (up from 43rd highest).

9. The ratio of babies born at very low-weight (below 3 pounds, 4 ounces) rose 45.0% higher in the 9 San Luis Obispo County zip codes closest to Diablo Canyon, versus the other more distant 10 county zip codes.

10. The ratio of all-cause mortality rose 47.9% higher in the 9 San Luis Obispo County zip codes closest to Diablo Canyon, versus the other more distant 10 county zip codes.

11. In the 10 zip code areas in Santa Barbara County closest to Diablo Canyon, there was a greater rise in the rates of infant mortality (61.7%), low weight births (40.2%) and total mortality (19.1%), than in the 5 zip codes areas in the city of Santa Barbara, located approximately 90 miles from the reactors.

12. The major findings of this report show increases in various rates of disease and death in San Luis Obispo County, as compared to the state of California, since the 1980s (before plant startup and during its early years of operation). This includes increases in infant mortality, child/adolescent cancer mortality, cancer incidence for all ages (especially thyroid, female breast, and melanoma), and cancer mortality for all ages.

Click here to read more 

Related articles

• High cancer rates near Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
• - High cancer rates near Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant
• PG&E decision on Diablo relicensing could hinge on seismic retrofit
• Researchers consider: How risky is that radiation?
• Supervisors decide to plan ahead in case of Diablo Canyon shutdown

SCE Cited For Major Nuclear Related Safety Violation At San Onofre

Get SCE Out of San Onofre

Background: NRC Spent Fuel Pool Cooling Requirements:

“Each licensee shall develop and implement guidance and strategies intended to maintain or restore core cooling, containment, and spent fuel pool cooling capabilities under the circumstances associated with loss of large areas of the plant due to explosions or fire ….”

The San Onofre spent fuel cooling fire protection plan in the event of a large fire and/or explosion hinges on the expertise and staffing of the on-sight San Onofre Fire Department.

Since the San Onofre Fire Department and Emergency Planning Personnel Staffing was reduced to a skeleton crew without prior approval from the NRC after a full and proper evaluation, the existing fire plan is now outdated and unrealistic in event of a large fire or explosion.

A Spent Fuel Pool Cooling Accident, in case of a large fire or explosion without adequate and demonstrated mitigation measures is a MAJOR Nuclear Safety Concern for all the millions of Southern Californians living within the 10 Mile Emergency Protection Zone.  Remember Fukushima's triple meltdowns occurred because of a failure to keep their reactors cool after the big earth quake and tsunami which occurred on 03/11/11.

Last Friday, the NRC cited SCE, the operator of San Onofre's nuclear power plant for violating NRC rules by failing to get approval before eliminating 39 emergency-response jobs after the plant closed last year.

Historically, NRC Region IV has had the habit of citing Southern California Edison with only low level violations, even if the violations were actually severe violations.  This cozy relationship was a contributing factor in the radioactive leak that resulted in the early decommissioning of San Onofre Units 2 & 3 and the loss of billions of dollars to SoCal ratepayers that could have been prevented, if the NRC had enforced the Federal Regulations as written.  This type of safety enforcement is not good for Californians or the NRC.  Now a serious review/investigation and proper action/fines are required by the NRC and its Commissioners, to assure Nuclear Safety is maintained at San Onofre and all the other US Nuclear Power Plants.

The question the NRC should ask is, "Knowing that the SPENT FUEL POOLS MUST STILL BE KEPT COOL 24/7 no matter what, if a major earth quake occurred tonight, would San Onofre Fire Dept.'s skeleton crew be able to guarantee US that they could prevent a nuclear accident from occurring, especially since the 39 emergency-response positions that were illegally eliminated, probably cost ratepayers much less than even one still employed highly paid nuclear manager who would be home sleeping?  

The question that the CPUC should ask is, "If SEC is really interested in safety as they keep telling us, what is the reasonableness of continually cutting corners on those that actually insure our safety, while at the same time retaining other highly paid nuclear Staff?

Related articles

• San Onofre Nuclear Plant Hit With Violation
• San Onofre nuclear plant hit with violation
• San Onofre nuclear plant hit with violation
• Nation's nuclear waste a deepening concern
• Customers would get $1.4 billion in refunds in San Onofre deal

Private Profit, Public Debt, The Nuclear Saga Continues In San Clemente

Would you give 3 hours of your time on Tuesday to lower cancer rates 
in San Clemente and adjacent communities?
Studies show that communities who are actively involved in the decommissioning of their power plants
result in lower radiation readings. Less radiation, less cancer.

On Jan 2012 So Cal Edison' s new steam generators released what they say is a "small amount" of radiation. This "small amount" to them is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 gallons of highly radioactive cooling water, that turned into highly radioactive steam spread upon the Community of San Clemente.

Each Day San Onofre operated So Cal Edison made an estimated $1 million dollars and produced about 500 lbs of deadly nuclear waste. The $2.7 Billion ratepayers have paid into the San Onofre decommissioning fund only equals about $50 per pound to store this waste for the next million years. These decommissioning funds will have to be spent very wisely.  On top of these funds So Cal Edison says they want another 2 billion dollars for decommissioning and in time we all know this cost will go up.

The question that should be in every Californian's mind is, Just how many nuclear plants has So Cal Edison decommissioned, and what was the radiation rate of the site after they were done?

I would like to see So Cal Edison removed from any further work at San Onofre, replaced by a company with the best track record in the industry for safely returning a site to its former state. Whoever that may be, perhaps San Onofre should be placed on the EPA's superfund list due to the shear amount of radioactive waste found on site.

I do not want to see So Cal Edison spending a "small amount" of the decommissioning funds as they see fit as it stands now, in essence profiting on the mess they have left here in San Clemente, when they have proven time and time again that they can play fast and loose with the facts regarding this now decaying nuclear waste generating station.

I would like to see a Citizens oversight committee in charge of the purse strings related to the decommissioning project that as we all know will last many many years.

To this Citizens oversight committee I would ask

• to see the data from the current radiation monitoring network on site at SONGS setup for public access on the internet for real time scrutiny of ongoing releases related to the decommissioning.
• to see a tsunami wall built to the same standards for an expected tsunami that our neighboring city of Dana Point is using, an estimated 42 foot tsunami verses our 14 foot tsunami at low tide, 
• to see our spent fuel pools hardened against terrorist attack, as losing water to these pool could still devastate the entire west coast of north america. 
• to see our current dry cask storage moved to a safer location inland, protected by earthen berms and separated by the same amount of space as is standard in the rest of our nations nuclear sites. 
• to see any high burn up fuel placed in canisters designed for this more dangerous spent fuel.
• to know if any of the members of this committee have ever received funding from So Cal Edison. 

Related articles

• Ratepayers may get refunds from San Onofre nuclear plant closure
• Community Panel to Hold First Meeting March 25 on Nuclear Plant Decommissioning
• Ratepayers may get slice of $1 billion-plus San Onofre refunds
• Extreme Danger Of Spent Fuel Pools - Decommissioning San Onofre
• Nation's nuclear waste a deepening concern

To all who will help make California safe for our children's future

To all who will help make California safe for our children's future,

Public meeting of the new SCE CEP (Community Engagement Panel) about the decommissioning of SONGS will be Tuesday, March 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. . The meeting will be held at the San Clemente Community Center and people will have a 3 minute comment period at some point in this meeting.  San Clemente Community Center is located at 100 North Calle Seville, San Clemente, CA.

This is the start of a very important process for our community and all of Southern California. Please tell your friend and show up to this meeting if at all possible.

Just some of the issues we need talked about are at this meeting:

High burnup fuel at San Onofre 

Waste storage at San Onofre

Dry Cask being storage in the safest way

If problem happens in the Cask what is SCE plan to mitigate this problem, if none exist then SCE needs to develop adequate strategies to detect and mitigate unexpected degradation during dry storage.

transportation casks for HBF does not exist

I will send another email with the latest document from Marvin Resnikoff and Donna Gilmore on High burnup fuel.

Sincerely,

Gene Stone

Residents Organized For a Safe Environment (ROSE)

First Community Engagement Panel meeting

1631 Tons of Nuclear Danger In San Clemente

First Community Engagement Panel meeting

Public meeting of the new SCE CEP (Community Engagement Panel) will be Tuesday, March 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. . The meeting will be held at the San Clemente Community Center and people will have a 3 minute comment period at some point in this meeting.

This is the start of a very important process for our community and all of Southern California. Please tell your friend and show up to this meeting if at all possible.

San Clemente Community Center is located at 100 North Calle Seville, San Clemente, CA.

Turn Off A Light For Fukushima

http://unplugnuclearpower.com/

Direct Action Strategy

It's time to punish the electric utility companies in the only way that they understand, by taking money away from them. When so many people join this action that the utilities see a measurable drop in their revenue, they will think twice about all the money and resources they have spent keeping nuclear power alive. Join our action, and let us know what level of conservation you will be practising on March 11. Level 1 - Turn off extra lights and power; Level 2 - Severely cut back on electricity use; Level 3 - Use no utility power that day (Caution! requires careful planning!); or Level 4 - Use solar or wind power to put energy back into the grid.

Related articles

• Contaminated water still troubles Japan nuke plant
• Japanese Investigator Says Lessons of Fukushima Disaster Ignored
• Remember Fukushima - No to Nuclear Power Mon 10th, Tue 11th & Sat 15th March 2014
• Near Fukushima, a Generation of Kids Who Don't Play Outside

Remembering Fukushima Film Screening Laguna Beach March 11

Remembering Fukushima BC Space Gallery Laguna Beach

Film Screening : March 11 : Metamorphosis by Jun Hori : 7 pm
(3rd Anniversary of the 2011 Earthquake & Tsunami)

Jun Hori is a noted Japanese television journalist and commentator. His documentary video “Metamorphosis” explores the Japanese citizen reaction to the Fukushima reactor meltdowns, and public opposition to government proposals to reopen Japan’s remaining 50 reactors. “Metamorphosis” also explores several nuclear accident sites in the United States, including Three Mile Island. When NHK, Japan’s public television network, refused to broadcast “Metamorphosis,” Jun Hori ended his long-term relationship with NHK.

When San Onofre's nuclear waste generating plant closed last summer, many breathed a sigh of relief. Yet San Onofre still requires a multi-decade 'decommissioning,' with radioactive fuel and components carted away to uncertain disposal, at further expense measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Who profits and who pays is in dispute.

Plutonium Is Forever

For additional information please contact the gallery or Mark Chamberlain at 949.697.5237

BC Space Gallery
235 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949.497.1880
bcspace@mol.net

Related articles

• Greenpeace Canada podcast is Fukushima: Meet a victim 3 years later. A man still looking for his life.
• Protesting Fukushima: Tens of Thousands Stage Anti-Nuclear Rally
• Fukushima: A River Runs Through It ... Or ... Why This Disaster Is Now Called An Extinction Level Event
• The children of Japan's Fukushima battle an invisible enemy
• Thousands protest against nuclear power before Fukushima anniversary