Search: San onofre

‘SoCal baby wave community panics as lease for San Onofre nears expiration!’

March 25, 2024 by Source

U.S. Marine Corp poised to reabsorb Old Mans.

By Chas Smith / Beach Grit / March 25, 2024

There are many places in Southern California where baby wave enthusiasts can gather with their longer craft, malinger in parking lots, talk small talk, vibe then paddle out into tiny ocean lumps for to make glide but none more iconic than San Onofre. Just south of Upper Trestles and pressed up against the Marine base Camp Pendleton,

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The Latest on SoCal’s Shut Down Nuclear Power Plant at San Onofre — Panel Friday, Feb.2

February 1, 2024 by Source

From San Clemente Green

This is truly a race against time, but many potential victims remain unaware of the threat. In approving the coastal permit, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) put in a condition that requires Edison to evaluate sea level rise in 2035. We are asking the CCC to take the initiative and request an analysis for conditions that may require moving Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) to higher ground. The time has come, sooner than expected and we can’t afford to wait for another decade or more to pass. The planning must begin now. You can help by signing our petition here, which is already well underway. We can’t wait until 2035 to re-evaluate sea level rise, as the permit currently is written.

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Dismantlement of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Is More than 60% Complete

November 16, 2023 by Source

By Rob Nikolewski / San Diego Union-Tribune / Nov. 16, 2023

While it may be difficult to see as drivers zoom past the two distinctive domes on the west side of Interstate 5, the dismantlement of the San Onofre nuclear power plant is more than 60 percent complete. “We’re just under two-thirds of the way through,” said Vince Bilovsky, director of the decommissioning project at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, known as SONGS for short. “We’re where we need to be.”

Demolition work on the eight-year, $4.7 billion project started in October 2020 and is scheduled to finish by the end of 2028.

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11 Years Ago Today, San Onofre Nearly Became the Next Fukushima

January 31, 2023 by Source

From San Clemente Green

Eleven years ago today — Jan. 31, 2013, we almost nuked Southern California. We owe a debt of gratitude to the nuclear operators that managed a swift and flawless emergency shutdown.

A Thank You Note to Edison Employees and a reminder to all. It is important to remember that they prevented a major disaster eleven years ago.

Your quick actions when radioactive steam began escaping into the environment, prevented a chain reaction from occurring in one of the newly replaced steam generators. It turns out that whistleblowers, afraid of known retaliation from management for such things, had rightfully warned us of this possibility two years prior.

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Court Rejects Legal Challenge to Stop Work at San Onofre

January 29, 2021 by Source

Nuclear Shutdown News January 2021

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

By Michael Steinberg

Court rejects legal challenge to stop work at San Onofre.

On January 14 Law 360 reported, “9th Circuit Court Denies Advocate’s Nuclear Decommissioning Challenge.” The case concerns San Diego based Public Advocate’s petition asserting that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission “abdicated its safety responsibilities” overseeing the decommissioning of the San Onofre nuclear plant in Orange county, Southern California, which shut down in 2012.

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3 Easy Ways to Influence Coastal Commission on San Onofre Nuclear Waste

July 9, 2020 by Source

From San Clemente Greens:

What could be worse than Global Pandemic, Climate Change and Socioeconomic upheaval?

Nuclear waste escaping containment all around the country if we fail to do something about it now, while we still can. Imagine getting through all of these tough challenges only to be undone when inescapable and everlasting radiation is allowed to contaminate our planet.

There’s still issues (and scandals) at San Onofre nuke plant.

So, here’s 3 easy things to do to influence the Coastal Commission on San Onofre nuke waste:

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Seven Years After the Shutdown of the San Onofre Nuke Plant, the Scandals Continue

July 6, 2020 by Michael Steinberg


By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

On June 30 the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, “Worker At San Onofre Nuclear Plant Tests Positive For Covid 19.” Plant owner Southern California Edison admitted the infected person was a contract worker at the plant until June 23, but refused to reveal the person’s name or position at the plant. There was no explanation of how the worker acquired the virus or what measures were being taken to protect others in the workplace or surrounding communities.

Seven years after San Onofre closed permanently on June 7, 2013,

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Could San Onofre Nuke Demolition Cause Catastrophe?

March 12, 2020 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News March 2020

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

As San Onofre nuke demolition begins Watchdogs assert it could cause a nuclear catastrophe.

On February 6, Coastal News, from Solana Beach in San Diego County, reported, “Public Watchdog, a nonprofit (San Diego-based) advocacy group filed a petition with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission” to put the kibosh on that action.

Coastal News continued “The advocacy group claims that if the facility if flooded with rain or ocean water, the proposed method of disposing of nuclear waste could lead to an explosion of a radioactive steam geyser.”

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San Clemente Greens Urge San Diegans to Attend Coastal Commission Meeting on San Onofre at Chula Vista, October 17

October 10, 2019 by Source

Locals Encouraged to Oppose Edison’s Application

The folks in the anti-nuke watchdog group just to our north, the San Clemente Greens, are urging San Diegans to attend the upcoming California Coastal Commission hearing being held in Chula Vista later this month about what’s going down at San Onofre nuke plant.

The utility and majority-owner of San Onofre, Southern California Edison has applied for a permit to destroy its spent fuel pool as part of the onshore portion of decommissioning of Units 2 and 3.

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Public Watchdogs Call for Court to Halt Burial of Nuclear Waste at San Onofre

September 4, 2019 by Source

On August 28, Public Watchdogs, a nonprofit advocacy group, requested an immediate court-order to halt the transfer of deadly radioactive nuclear waste at the San Onofre Nuke plant into “thin-walled” dry storage canisters.

The group filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) with the United States District Court, and is petitioning the courts to step in and protect the environment and the lives of more than 8 million people who live within the radiation plume zone identified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The attorney for Public Watchdogs, Chuck La Bella, stated:

“My immediate concern is for the health and safety of the millions of people who could be impacted by a toxic cloud being released from SONGS. The consequences of a nuclear accident are catastrophic and would last for generations.”

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San Onofre Nuke Plant Still in the News

May 13, 2019 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News April 2019

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the declines and fall of the nuclear power industry, and highlights the efforts of those who are working for a nuclear free future.

Last year’s Radwaste ‘near misses’ continue to plague San Onofre Nuke Plant – Southern California’s nuke plant shut down in 2013 after gross mismanagement and release of radiation into the environment by major owner Southern California Edison. San Diego Gas & Electric is a secondary owner.

The plant is, in retrospect, at an insane location.

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August Has Been a Cruel Month for San Onofre Nuke Plant

August 28, 2018 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg/ Blackrain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our August 2018 report.

More Scandals Rock San Onofre

The eighth month of the year saw additional scandals erupt at Southern California’s San Onofre nuclear plant, which has been shut down since 2013.

Another potentially catastrophic accident occurred, a previously unknown whistleblower spoke out,

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Speak Out Against the Nuke Dump on the Beach at San Onofre

August 7, 2018 by Staff

State Lands Commission to Hear Public Comments on San Onofre Decommissioning Plans at Meetings in Oceanside and San Clemente

Anti-nuke activists are mobilizing at two upcoming meetings of the California State Lands Commission in order to ‘speak out against the nuke dump’ at San Onofre. One is in Oceanside and the other is in San Clemente.

The California State Lands Commission is the lead organization conducting the Environmental Impact Report on the San Onofre decommissioning project.

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San Onofre Shutdown Problems Continue

August 1, 2018 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News July 2018

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear power industry, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our July 2018 report.

San Onofre shutdown problems continue to multiply

Just when you thought nothing more could go wrong with the San Onofre nuclear plant’s shutdown process, new issues have emerged. The latest ones are associated with its location: a spectacular Southern California beach that is also one of the Pacific Coast’s premier surfing magnets.

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San Onofre Surf Community Starts to Wake Up About Nuclear Waste on Their Beach

April 20, 2018 by Source

By Jake Howard / Dana Point Times

To be frank, the surf community’s response to the nuclear waste situation at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) has been apathetic at best. Somehow, the toll road dilemma generates more attention and more buzz than the fact that at this moment there are four questionable canisters of nuclear waste buried yards from the waterline at San O. Why aren’t there more “No Nukes” bumper stickers on cars around town?

The amount of nuclear waste stored at the SONGS site includes 51 old canisters and potentially 73 new ones, which can be hazardous to human health—there are even signs posted by the fences that ward off people from going near the facility.

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Broken Promises, Broken Bolts: the San Onofre Nuclear Follies Just Won’t Stop

April 3, 2018 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News March 2018

By Michael Steinberg / Blackrain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world. Here is out March 2018 report.

Decline and Fall of San Onofre Nuclear Plant Not Over

The decline and fall of of Southern California’s San Onofre nuclear power plant still has not hit bottom. Located in Orange County, home of Disneyland, the plant operated 3 nuclear reactors. The first one started up in 1969, while Richard Nixon occupied the Western White House

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Burying 3.6 Million Pounds of Nuclear Waste at San Onofre State Beach Is a Terrible Idea

January 3, 2018 by Source

It’s heating up around the shuttered nuclear plant at San Onofre because locals are not happy with the plan to bury 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre State Beach. There were protests recently in the nearest city, San Clemente, against this plan.

Meanwhile, a local group, Citizens Oversight, has submitted a formal petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under NRC Regulations that govern how the nuclear industry handles spent nuclear fuel. They believe the containers of the toxic nuke spent fuel should be designed for 1,000 years rather than the current requirement of only 40 years.

Everybody is talking about San Onofre. In the current San Diego Reader, Don Bauder has a piece about how nuclear waste in the sand now will create a toxic ocean later. Sarah “Steve” Mosko, at Boogie Green writes there’s a ticking time bomb at San Onofre Nuclear Plant.

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Nuclear Shutdown News November 2017: Lawsuit vs. San Onofre Rad Waste and ‘Last Nuke’ in California

November 30, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working for a nuclear free world. Here is our November 2017 report:

Lawsuit Challenges Storage of Radioactive Waste at San Onofre Nuke

…

Last Running California Nuke Plant Inches Towards Shutdown

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Activists Protest Plans to Bury Nuclear Waste at San Onofre State Beach

November 21, 2017 by Source

By Mary Carreon / OCWeekly / November 21, 2017

Nearly 80 people gathered in Laguna Beach on Saturday to protest Southern California Edison’s (SCE) plan to bury 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente. According to Public Watchdogs, SCE has supposedly obtained a permit from the California Coastal Commission that not only authorizes them to bury the deadly waste, but also permits them to store it in thin-walled canisters 20-feet below the surface and 108-feet from the high tide mark. SCE is expected to dump the waste in mid-December.

This is a big problem for many reasons.

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A Summary of Nuclear Waste Issue at San Onofre

October 23, 2017 by Source

By Gary Headrick

I was recently asked to clear up some confusion about our nuclear waste strategy in an email thread between some good friends. I thought it might be worth sharing a refined version of my reply with you.

Also if you have not signed and shared our Petition yet, please do.

Here is the basic objective:

Delay the date for silos on the beach to get loaded with extremely radioactive waste.

This allows time to consider better alternatives that make us safer while deadly waste remains here cooling off for perhaps decades before it can be moved. We must deal with the fact that they are using canisters that can’t be monitored to prevent leaks, can’t be repaired

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Settlement Reached Over San Onofre Nuke Waste

September 5, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News August 2017

By Michael Steinberg /Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our August 2017 report.

San Onofre Nuke Plant’s Solution to its Megatons of Radioactive Waste–Make it Someone Else’s Problem

On August 28 the San Diego Union-Tribune broke the story: “Court settlement looks to move nuclear waste from San Onofre”

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Nuclear Shutdown News May 2017: San Onofre Shenanigans Continue

May 31, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our May 2017 report:

San Onofre shenanigans continue–and so does resistance

On May 27 KPBS along with the Associated Press reported the story “Customers May Never Know How They Got Stuck With $3.3 Billion Paid For San Onofre Shutdown.”

This report details how the San Francisco-based California Public Utilities Commission –

“once again failed to release sources of emails it exchanged with Governor Jerry Brown’s office” concerning the “nuclear plant’s closure.”

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Nuke Shutdown News for March 2017 : San Onofre Nuke Waste to Be 100 Feet from Ocean

April 3, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

Nuke Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world. Here’s our March 2017 report:

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

San Onofre nuke owner wants to put lots of high level nuclear waste 100 feet from the Pacific Ocean.

On March 20 Surfer Magazine reported:

“They’re going to put nuclear waste 100 feet from the water.”

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Nuclear Shutdown News for July 2016 – San Onofre Whistleblower: Utility Ruined its Own Nuke Plant.

August 2, 2016 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free future. Here is out July 2016 report.

San Onofre whistleblower: Utility put profits above safety, ruined its own nuke plant.

A radiation leak at San Onofre nuclear plant in southern California caused its two reactors to shut down in in 2012, and resulted in its permanent closure the following year.

On July 19 the Times of San Diego reported on a press release by Public Watchdog, a nonprofit policy group, detailing allegations of a former employee at San Onofre. Southern California Edison is the controlling owner of the nuke plat, with San Diego Gas & Electric being a minority owner of the wrecked nuclear plant.

The whistleblower, Vinod Arora, is a former Edison fire protection engineer who worked at San Onofre.

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Nuclear Shutdown News May 2016 : Ripped Off California Ratepayers Struggle for Fairness Over San Onofre

June 1, 2016 by Michael Steinberg
Thumbnail image for Nuclear Shutdown News May 2016 : Ripped Off California Ratepayers Struggle for Fairness Over San Onofre

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear power industry at home and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those who are fighting to create a nuclear free future. Here is our May issue:

California Nuclear Ratepayers Still Struggling For Justice Over San Onofre Shutdown Costs

On May 17, the Orange County Register ran the story, “How much should consumers pay for the San Onofre shutdown?”

As previously reported by Nuclear Shutdown News, in June 2003, the San Onofre nuclear power plant, located in northern San Diego County, permanently shut down, 20 years ahead schedule.
This followed a scandal involving gross mismanagement and duplicity by its majority owner, Southern California Edison.

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Is Jerry Brown Involved in the San Onofre Nuclear Plant Shutdown Scandal?

March 3, 2016 by Michael Steinberg

Jerry-BrownNuclear Shutdown News for February 2016

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the US nuclear power industry in this country and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world.

Last year Nuclear Shutdown News reported on a scandal involving the San Onofre nuclear plant shutdown, and a secret deal that left its ratepayers holding the bag for a multibillion dollar debt for which the public bears no responsibility. This onerous debt will take consumers and their descendants decades to pay off if the powers that be get their way. But the people are fighting back.

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Fukushima, Chernobyl, Santa Susana, San Onofre… and Rocky Flats

February 11, 2016 by Source

Our controversial nuclear legacy and questions about health, truth and future risks
By Nicole Hoepner

sdfp onofre back upSleeping dragons. Stirring the thin blankets of secret cold-war facilities, nuclear power plants and feebly stored radioactive waste.

We quietly sneak around their massive shadows. We tell our children fairy tales of mankind’s control over technology, over nature.

The story of The Atom That Is Keeping Us Safe, but then the unexpected happens and unspeakable horrors awaken and unleash their terror.

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Nuclear Shutdown News for September 2015 – the Costs of San Onofre

September 29, 2015 by Michael Steinberg

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry, both in the US and worldwide, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free future.

By Michael Steinberg /Black Rain Press

Disaster Capitalism and the Shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Plant

This story starts with a clandestine dinner in Warsaw, Poland. Present are Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utility Commission, and Stephen Pickett, a high ranking official with Southern California Edison, a major electrical utility.

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Should Ratepayers Pay SDG&E’s San Onofre Costs? Hearing October 1st in San Diego

September 6, 2013 by Source

From East County Magazine / September 4, 2013

On the heels of a hefty rate increase that took effect September 1st, SDG&E wants ratepayers to pay for costs of decommissioning the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Stations. Ratepayer advocates, meanwhile, say ratepayers should receive a refund for charges assessed when the nuclear facility was off-line for more than a year before being shut down permanently.

The California Public Utilities Commission will hold two hearings on Tuesday, October 1 at 2 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. Both will be held in the Al Bahr Shriners auditorium, 5440 Kaerny Mesa Road, San Diego 92111. The commission will consider whether or not ratepayers should be charged for the decommissioning costs, as well as whether ratepayers should receive refunds for charges assessed while the nuclear facilities were offline for more than a year before the shut-down decision.

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San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant to Be Shut Down for Good!

June 7, 2013 by Staff

Southern California Edison Announces It’s Over for the Local Nuke

Southern California Edison has just declared today that the San Onofre Nuclear power plant is to be shut down for good. It’s over.

Citing “continuing uncertainty about when or if it might return to service”, the company concluded that questions over when or if the plant might return to service was not good for customers or investors. Concerns about the environment or planet earth were not mentioned.

Since the shutdown of the nuclear power generating station in January of 2012, there has been an epic struggle over whether the plant could safely be returned to operating status.

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