Rally Commemorates Chernobyl, TMI, continuing meltdown at Fukushima on Sunday, from Noon to 3pm
“Shut Down San Onofre” Momentum builds following Radioactivity Release and Design-Error Shutdown of the Plant
April 20, 2012 (SAN ONOFRE) – Nuclear Industry Expert Daniel Hirsch and Irvine City Councilmember Larry Agran will join a dozen other speakers at the “Shut Down San Onofre” rally at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on Sunday, April 29, to support the view that the reactor should never be restarted. The event occurs just after the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the 33-year anniversary of the Three-Mile Island accident, and the first Fukushima Daiichi meltdown anniversary — an accident which is far from over.
Irvine Councilmember Larry Agran, who joined other community members in a private meeting with NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko on April 6, 2012, spoke eloquently at the meeting citing critical safety concerns. A major disaster at the plant would put 8.4 million residents at risk and create a no-mans-land out of Southern California. Agran introduced a resolution requesting permanent shutdown of the plant to the Irvine City Council, and it was approved unanimously. Other cities are following suit, such as Solana Beach, which approved a similar resolution.
Despite the earthquake, tsunami, and terrorist risks, the undoing of the San Onofre plant may be due to engineering or manufacturing errors. After spending $670 million to replace the steam generators, operators thought the plant would operate without failure for decades. The original steam generators lasted over 25 years, and the replacement generators were carefully designed to reduce failure mechanisms, or so they thought. Instead, an unexpected radioactive steam release in January forced management to reveal that both steam generators were exhibiting unexpected thinning in hundreds of heat transfer tubes. NRC Chairman Jaczko is keeping the plant shut down until the root cause of the problem is determined, and corrective measures to be take so the plant can be operated safely.
“The plant has served its useful life and combined with other risks, is not worth fixing,” Ray Lutz said, an engineer and now National Coordinator, Citizens’ Oversight Projects. “At this point, it will be extremely hard to argue that minor corrections to the failing steam generators will make the plant safe. They were brand new, and obviously insufficiently tested to reveal that the numerous design changes made them far worse then the originals. That may mean a full replacement of these huge components is required and thus probably more than another half billion dollars wasted on this plant if they attempt to fix it.”
“At some point, the San Onofre plant must be decommissioned. We believe that time is now,” said Gene Stone, of Residents Organized for a Safe Environment in San Clemente. “While the plant is shut down for maintenance, we believe this is the right time to start the decommissioning process for the safety of the workers at the plant and the community at large. We must do the right thing now and not put the California economy at risk. Let’s not spend one dime more on any more retrofits.”
In additional to elected officials and nuclear industry experts, Libbe HaLEVY will relate her experience of evacuating from the Three-Mile Island accident, and Suzanne Smith will tell her story about losing her mother to cancer just five years after the Chernobyl disaster, near where she lived. Other speakers include: Ace Hoffman, Torgen Johnson, Ray Lutz, Gene Stone, Gary Headrick, and many others.
Entertainment will be provided by:
Liquid Blue, considered the most traveled band, has performed in more than 100 countries on seven continents, their LP “Supernova” was awarded Pop Album of the Year in 2009 at the Los Angeles Music Awards, and they are considered “America’s Best Dance Band.” (see http://www.liquid-blue.com)
Charlie Imes, a San Diego Music Award nominee in 2009 for Best Americana or Country Album, “On An Island” (seehttp://crimesofmusic.com)
EVENT DETAILS:
Date/Time: Sunday, April 29, 2012. Gather at 12 noon. March starts at 12:15. Rally 1pm to 3pm.
Location: Rally: 1:00 p.m. about 1/8 mile south of the San Onofre facility
Directions: I-5 to Basilone Rd exit, ~2 miles south.
March: 12:30 p.m. starting at gate of San Onofre State Beach (~1/8 mile) along access road; Parking: Available at San Onofre State Beach, $15 day use fee. Shuttle vans will be available to help those who have parked get to the rally site.
Buses: Seats on buses from Balboa Park (Park Ave at Presidents Way) or from Oceanside Transit Center are $10 each ($11.54 for tickets purchased with credit cards online.) Reserve at http://ShutDownSanOnofre.org or call 619-501-1031 for questions.
Speakers: Nuclear Industry Experts; Elected Officials; Activists; Hollywood Celebrities; Scientists and Engineers; Persons with personal stories from TMI and Chernobyl Entertainment: Charlie Imes and Liquid Blue
Endorsed by:
Peace Resource Center of San Diego
Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE)
San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice (SDCPJ)
San Onofre Safety (SOS)
Citizens Oversight Projects (COPS)
San Clemente Green
Occupy Escondido
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See relatd events at http://www.sanclementegreen.org/?q=node/252 ACTION AT SAN ONOFRE
Please note that all of the anti nuclear rallies that have taken place in America have not led to the elimination of the nuclear power industry there, nor have they stopped the approval of new nuclear reactors there.
What the nuclear waste protesters HAVE achieved, is the cancellation of a high level waste repository i.e yukka mountain. That means that instead of this high level nuclear waste being out of reach (because it is stored at Yucca mountain) a lot of this waste is stored above ground, hence it is potentially more able to (closer in proximity) cause trouble for people. At this point, i guess that a lot of people might wonder about potentially leaking radioactive material reaching the groundwater from nuclear waste? My point is that humans do not need to put this waste there without it being monitored and corrective action taken to retrieve it if anything leaks while it is at Yucca Mountain. This nuclear waste is not green goop. It is metal fuel rods and it is hermetically sealed when it would be stored at Yucca Mountain. So it is not likely to leak.
Finally, the problem with America’s nuclear reactors, is that they need careful management and multiple back ups of cooling in order to help stop a meltdown. This helps to make a nuclear power be very expensive in dollar terms.
There is a nuclear reactor type that can likely be inexpensive to build and be melt down proof. It is the L.F.T.R i.e LIQUID FUELLED THORIUM REACTOR. It also has the attribute the waste from this type of reactor would only need around 300 years until it’s waste was benign.
Just received this from Craig Reem, director of Public affairs -City of Irvine: “No resolution introduced, so no resolution voted upon, regarding the San Onofre plant.
See your story: http://obrag.org/?p=58755 – The issue is on the agenda again tomorrow night; City Council meets beginning at 5 p.m.