For Immediate Release
Coalition to Decommission San Onofre to ask NRC for official recognition for Citizens Oversight of San Onofre Decommissioning
Public invited to participate, Current plans call for a permanent nuclear waste dump on the site
WHEN: 6-9 PM TODAY, SEPT 26, 2013 (Doors open at 5pm for security screening)
WHERE: Omni La Costa, 2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad CA
WHAT: Category 3 Public meeting to discuss the decommissioning process for commercial nuclear power reactor facilities, including at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 (SONGS), and NRC's regulatory oversight of the decommissioning process.
MORE INFO: NRC Official Invitation: http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20132149
As the community continues to celebrate the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, there is recognition that the job is not over, and now a struggle to decommission the plant now begins, along with the need to carefully monitor the use of nearly $4 billion in decommissioning funds, so that the plant is returned to its former state.
CORE MESSAGE OF Coalition to Decommission San Onofre:
We are here today in the hope that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will make San Onofre the "Flagship Project" for a safe-and-sane cleanup of America's old and dangerous nuclear fleet and its highly radioactive nuclear waste problems. The original Manhattan Project brought us to where we are now; it's time for the same kind of resources and energy to be put into a project to rid of us this dangerous radioactive waste.
Coalition to Decommission San Onofre to ask NRC for official recognition for Citizens Oversight of San Onofre Decommissioning
Public invited to participate, Current plans call for a permanent nuclear waste dump on the site
WHEN: 6-9 PM TODAY, SEPT 26, 2013 (Doors open at 5pm for security screening)
WHERE: Omni La Costa, 2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad CA
WHAT: Category 3 Public meeting to discuss the decommissioning process for commercial nuclear power reactor facilities, including at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 (SONGS), and NRC's regulatory oversight of the decommissioning process.
MORE INFO: NRC Official Invitation: http://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg?do=details&Code=20132149
As the community continues to celebrate the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant, there is recognition that the job is not over, and now a struggle to decommission the plant now begins, along with the need to carefully monitor the use of nearly $4 billion in decommissioning funds, so that the plant is returned to its former state.
CORE MESSAGE OF Coalition to Decommission San Onofre:
We are here today in the hope that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will make San Onofre the "Flagship Project" for a safe-and-sane cleanup of America's old and dangerous nuclear fleet and its highly radioactive nuclear waste problems. The original Manhattan Project brought us to where we are now; it's time for the same kind of resources and energy to be put into a project to rid of us this dangerous radioactive waste.
To this end the Coalition to Decommission San Onofre is forming a true citizens' oversight committee to watch out for the health and safety of all Californians and workers at the plant during the decommissioning process, and to monitor the cost of decommissioning so the citizens and ratepayers of California are fully represented during the process.
1. The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre asks the NRC to give us official status in order to ensure that the public will have an opportunity to review and comment on significant decommissioning plans, including planned expenditures.
2. Coalition members learned recently from the NRC that high burnup fuel* has been used at San Onofre since 1996. But we have been unable to find a public notice of that from the NRC or SCE. Even the union and other workers we have contacted were not aware of its use. Was a notice ever given to the public and workers? Were workers made aware that this high burnup fuel is more than twice as radioactive?
* High burnup fuel is hotter and "between 2 and 158 times more radioactive", requiring the waste to be cooled on-site in spent fuel pools for at least 12-15 years (rather than 5 years).
SCE SONGS 2 & 3 Early Decommissioning Scenario – CPUC Supplemental Testimony, July, 22, 2013,
3. The Coalition wants to know how the high burnup fuel may impact the decommissioning process at San Onofre. What specific problems does this higher radioactive fuel present for waste storage in fuel pools and dry cask storage at San Onofre and just how much longer will this radiation last? How will decommissioning be impacted by the current onsite storage of the spent fuel at San Onofre?
4. Coalition members also learned recently that some NRC staff are worried about short and long-term waste storage in dry cask of high burnup fuel, and have initiated a new study to determine if it can safely be stored in dry casks. When will this NRC report be complete? Will it be released public and when? The Coalition has learned that there appears to be no way to monitor what's occurring to the spent fuel assemblies stored inside the dry casks. How does the NRC propose to monitor the condition of the highly radioactive material stored inside dry casks? How many casks will be required to safely store all the high burnup fuel that is on site in both the spent fuel pools and dry casks at San Onofre? How much high burn up fuel is on site in spent fuel pools and in dry cask storage at San Onofre
Donna Gilmore of San Clemente says "I was shocked to learn San Onofre, as well as other plants in California and around the country, have been using high burnup fuel that is over twice as radioactive and has no approved short or long term safe storage solution."
Gene Stone of Residents Organized for Safe Environment (ROSE) says "we may be a little safer with San Onofre closed, but we are not safe yet.
To help inform ratepayers and the general public about the issues affecting the decommissioning process at San Onofre, the Coalition to Decommission San Onofre will sponsor a Community Symposium on Decommissioning San Onofre, Saturday, October 19, 2013 1:30 p.m to 4:30 p.m. at the Center for Spiritual Living,1201 Puerta Del Sol, Suite 100, San Clemente, CA 92673.
Featured speakers will include Arjun Makhijani, expert on Hardened On Site Storage of nuclear waste and long-term high-level waste management issues and President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, and Marvin Resnikoff, expert on nuclear waste management issues and Senior Associate at Radioactive Waste Management Associates.
For more info contact:
Gene Stone of ROSE, 949-233-7724, genston@sbcglobal.net
Glenn Pascall of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, 949-248-3138, pascall@att.net
Carol Jahnkow of Peace Resource Center of SD, 760-390-0775, caroljahnkow@gmail.com
Ray Lutz of Citizens Oversight, 619-820-5321, raylutz@citizensoversight.org
The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre is a DBA of CitizensOversight, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit Delaware corporation.
Ray Lutz of Citizens Oversight, 619-820-5321, raylutz@citizensoversight.org
The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre is a DBA of CitizensOversight, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit Delaware corporation.
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