Blog Archives - Public Watchdogs: Because the Public has a right to know

Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants: A Cause for Concern

September 23, 2020September 24, 2020 Public Watchdogs 1 Comment

By Roger Johnson, PhD, contributing editor All nuclear power plants regularly discharge radioactivity into the environment. They produce large quantities of radioactive materials and some of it gets discharged into the atmosphere, waterways, and surrounding land. The public needs to know more about these radioactive emissions, especially since they are conducted frequently and in secret. Ionizing radiation is a known carcinogen, and since cancer is becoming the number one…

That metallic taste? It’s possible you’ve been irradiated.

August 5, 2019September 4, 2019 Public Watchdogs 4 Comments

That metallic taste in your mouth? It could be brain damage. People who surf near the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) are rumored to occasionally report a metallic taste in their mouth while surfing. Southern California Edison (SCE), the owners of the shuttered nuke plant, use a system called “Dilute and Discharge,” to dump radioactive water from its spent nuclear fuel pools into…

Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejects request for full-time safety inspector at SONGS

July 11, 2019September 4, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) bureaucrats have spurned a request by a sitting United States Congressman to put a full-time safety inspector onsite during the transfer of spent nuclear fuel at the accident-prone San Onofre Nuclear Waste Dump. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has rejected a written request from Congressman Mike Levin to deploy a full-time NRC inspector at the San Onofre Nuclear Waste Dump, which is…

Radioactive emergency sirens at San Onofre are being removed … but that doesn’t mean there is no risk.

July 8, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Southern California Edison has announced that it is removing all of its radiation alert sirens from nearby communities that are close the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Now that the plant is closed, 3.6 million pounds of deadly radioactive nuclear waste are being buried 108 feet from the beach. When the beachfront nuclear waste dump is completed, it will contain 72 giant, thin-walled canisters…

“Poor Planning” resulted in near-miss at San Onofre Nuke Plant

January 24, 2019February 2, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Dateline San Diego: Edison admits that poor planning and lack of management oversight caused “near-miss” at failed nuclear power plant FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01-24-19 Today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission Pre-decisional Enforcement Conference (PEC) webinar was the final step in the process of determining what punitive action — if any — will be taken against Southern California Edison’s documented failure to obey Federal law during the transfer of…

Are Holtec’s nuclear waste trash cans “eggshell thin?”

July 31, 2018October 15, 2020 Public Watchdogs 1 Comment

Proportional mathematics shows that Holtec’s nuclear waste trash cans are proportionally not much thicker than an egg shell Last year, we asked Carlsbad computer programmer and nuclear safety advocate, Ace Hoffman to evaluate the “thin-walled” nuclear trash cans that Southern California Edison is using at its beachfront nuclear wast dump at San Onofre using proportional mathematics. Ace is the author of a popular intensively illustrated book…

San Onofre nuclear waste moved closer to beach

March 1, 2018March 22, 2018 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

CBS Update on radioactive waste at failed San Onofre nuclear reactors Experts disagree on safety of nuclear waste storage at SONGS. Public Watchdogs vs. David G. Victor The burial of millions of pounds of nuclear waste is now underway at San Onofre. The radioactive waste, which is deadly to all human life for at least 250,000 years, is being stored 108 feet from the beach. Yet…

Year-End Letter to Public Watchdogs Supporters

December 29, 2017December 30, 2017 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Get this Year-End Letter to Public Watchdogs supporters in pdf format, or scroll down to read it in html December 30, 2017 Re: Year-end letter to Public Watchdogs donors and supporters Dear Friend of Public Watchdogs, Imagine a world that’s completely free of nuclear waste … In 2017, we have focused our advocacy exclusively on removing the nuclear waste from the beach at San Onofre and have…

Nuclear Surfer / Mermaid Event, 1:00PM Friday, Hall of Justice, San Diego

April 13, 2017June 8, 2017 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Get ready to make peaceful waves at 1:00 PM Friday April 14th at the San Diego Hall of Justice. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nuclear Surfers and Mermaids to gather at 1:00 PM Friday, April 14th to stand for toxic waste safety WHO: Surfers, mermaids, musicians and concerned citizens dressed in yellow HazMat Gear. Public invited (see attached photos) WHAT: An event in support of nuclear waste safety…

Infographic: Why trying to get justice from our corrupt Utility Commission is legally futile

January 17, 2017January 17, 2017 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

The truth about how the California Public Utilities Commission sets your rates. Most people don’t know it, but California’s electric utility rates are almost always set in secret meetings behind closed doors where the public is excluded. Even though these ex parte meetings are illegal, the court system is set up to encourage the unlawful activity. It is one of the reasons California pays the highest utility rates in the nation.

Year-End Message from Public Watchdogs

December 29, 2016December 29, 2016 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Public Watchdogs’ geologist just gave Southern California a jolt. He predicted a 100% chance of a nuclear disaster at San Onofre (get the video “100% Chance” here). If you haven’t heard, Edison is about to bury tons of radioactive nuclear waste from San Onofre on our State Beach. If you have heard, then it’s probably because of the hard work of Public Watchdogs. Incorporated as an…

Can you pass the San Onofre I.Q. test?

December 4, 2016April 24, 2017 Nina Babiarz Leave a comment

How safe is the nuclear waste at San Onofre? Test your knowledge and level of safety now by taking our 1-minute “San Onofre Radioactive Waste I.Q. test.” Take the I.Q. Test here.

San Onofre Talking Points

October 5, 2016April 7, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Why storing nuclear waste 108 feet from San Onofre State Beach is a bad idea To get a copy of this document as a print-friendly pdf, click here If nothing is done, Southern California Edison, will complete the burial of 73 giant canisters of deadly radioactive waste 108 feet from the beach at San Onofre State Park on land leased from Camp Pendleton. Use these talking points…

Public Watchdogs exposes shocking emergency response plans at SONGS

September 30, 2016April 10, 2017 Nina Babiarz 2 Comments

New documents show Emergency Response Services to a nuclear disaster at San Onofre have been gutted by Southern California Edison. Watch the NBC video here. September 29, 2016, SAN DIEGO — Today, Public Watchdogs released sensitive and previously unpublished documents from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The documents authorize the elimination of required emergency planning and response to a nuclear accident at the now-failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating…

4 Arguments for an Emergency Court Injunction against the hot nuclear waste dump at San Onofre

August 23, 2016October 6, 2020 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Deployment of the new beach-front Nuclear Waste Dump at San Onofre is imminent. Here are four good reasons why storing high-level radioactive nuclear waste on our public beaches is a bad idea. See the photos below. Holtec casks awaiting spent nuclear fuel at San Onofre. The stainless steel casks are covered in white tarps to prevent the rust from corrosive salt-infused air. Photo taken 01/21/16 Holtec encasements...