Media Coverage where Public Watchdogs is Quoted Archives - Public Watchdogs: Because the Public has a right to know

Edison fights Public Watchdogs efforts to cut funding to San Onofre Nuclear Decommissioning Trust Fund

January 7, 2020January 23, 2020 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

On Christmas Eve, 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission formally refused to approve a $400 million-plus funding request from Southern California Edison, the owners of the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The Commission action will delay SONGS funding for at least 120 days, and was issued on the same day that Public Watchdogs filed a form Advice Letter protest with the Commission. “It is our hope that the Public Utilities Commission will review SCE’s profligate spending requests in full and open public hearings,” said Charles Langley, the Public Watchdogs executive director. “The public has a right to know how the public’s money is being spent.”

Activists push for relocation of San Onofre nuclear waste

October 15, 2019October 15, 2019 Nina Babiarz

Article Originally Appeared on Latimes.com By JEFF MCDONALD OCT. 10, 2019 5:57 PM Environmental activists who settled a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission and Southern California Edison after the utility agreed to make “commercially reasonable” efforts to relocate millions of pounds of nuclear waste are now asking a judge to enforce the deal. The Citizens Oversight community group and activist Patricia Borchmann filed a motion in…

Fullerton Observer: Scandals at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station put public at risk

August 9, 2019January 23, 2020 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Two recent scandals confirm that public safety is not top priority of either the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or SoCal Edison as they lurch forward with a faulty engineering design for removing spent nuclear waste from cooling pools and loading into dry storage at the now shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. According to Charles Langley, executive director of PublicWatchdogs.org, salt from the Pacific Ocean will cause the thin-walled metal cans to fail quickly …

NRC refuses to fine Holtec for violating Federal nuclear safety laws, underscoring its complete failure to protect the public

May 5, 2019May 7, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Holtec had two violations, the NRC said: failure to establish adequate design control measures of components important to safety, and failure to perform evaluations before making changes. A base civil penalty of $36,250 was considered and rejected due to Holtec’s “prompt and comprehensive” corrective actions, which outraged some critics. “The failure by the NRC to fine Holtec for breaking the law shows that it isn’t serious about protecting the public’s safety,” said Charles Langley, executive director of Public Watchdogs, in a statement.

Southern California Edison gets wrist-slap from NRC for nuclear waste safety violations

March 26, 2019April 8, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Owners of the failed SONGS nuclear plant have been fined for violating Federal radiation safety laws. The fine is a wrist-slap which proves the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is incapable of enforcing the laws protecting the public from future nuclear radiation accidents. The failure of the Nuclear regulatory Commission to enforce Federal safety laws, and its history of weakening existing laws portray an NRC that is a victim of regulatory capture, where formerly powerful regulators are required to kow-tow to the whims of mid-level managers at Southern California Edison.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety inspection at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station fails to impress critics

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Public Watchdogs criticizes the NRC for not “putting boots on the ground” in its recent report, and for conducting a sham inspection. Get our letter of protest explaining why it is a sham here. Preliminary NRC report finds a host of ‘deficiencies’ after incident at San Onofre nuclear plant By ROB NIKOLEWSKI OCT 20, 2018 | 11:20 AM | SAN DIEGO – republished under the Fair Use provision of U.S….

Public Watchdogs’ comments on the 8th anniversary of Fukushima.

March 11, 2019April 7, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Nina Babiarz and Charles Langley of Public Watchdogs interview on KUSI news with Lauren Phinney about the eighth anniversary of the Fukushima radiation disaster that displaced 100,000 people in one of the largest evacuations in world history. Could a similar nuclear disaster happen in San Diego at the site of the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, where millions of pounds of deadly nuclear waste — …

KUSI Report: Ticking Time Bomb video commercial warns public about radioactive danger at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)

February 26, 2019March 6, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Public Watchdogs’ TV Commercial warns public of radiation danger DATELINE, February 25, 2019: SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – A nuclear safety watchdog group has released a new television ad that says the nuclear waste stored near the beach at San Onofre is a disaster waiting to happen. Public Watchdogs based in San Diego has a 15 second TV ad that features shots of the…

Public Watchdogs behind “Ticking Time Bomb” Public Service Announcements – San Diego Union Tribune

February 26, 2019February 28, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Advocacy group buys airtime to oppose San Onofre nuclear waste Jeff McDonald February 25, 2019, 4:55 PM A San Diego advocacy nonprofit began airing new TV commercials Monday to warn about the potential dangers of storing nuclear waste from the San Onofre plant at the beach. The spot opens with traffic zooming along Interstate 5, north of Oceanside, past…

Yucca Mountain is a choice between “Horrible” and “Atrocious”

February 1, 2019February 27, 2019 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

The worst possible place to store nuclear waste is 108 feet from the beach at San Onofre State Beach Park Tom Elias is the only syndicated columnist (28 newspapers) that I know of who actually takes the time to understand and report on complex infrastructure issues such as San Onofre’s nuclear waste, and the possibility of storing the waste at Yucca Mountain. In this story, Will…

Edison’s Mad Plan

December 27, 2018February 4, 2019 Public Watchdogs 2 Comments

On August 3, 2018, a 100,000 pound thin-wall cask filled with deadly irradiated nuclear fuel got caught on a flange while being lowered into the steel-lined concrete vault of the waste storage site, known as an ISFSI (independent spent fuel storage installation). The cask got stuck on a ¼” guide ring for about an hour over an 18-foot drop.

NRC initiates feigned inspection at San Onofre

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Public Watchdogs asks “What are we paying them for?” Nuclear Regulatory Commission begins ‘special inspection’ of San Onofre nuclear station Rob Nikolewski, September 10, 2018 4:55 PM A team of five inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday began what is expected to be a five-day review of how a 45-ton canister loaded with spent nuclear fuel ended up getting suspended 18 feet from the floor…

August Has Been a Cruel Month for San Onofre Nuke Plant

August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Public Watchdogs says the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) “spent fuel casks are not thick enough and could crack.” by MICHAEL STEINBERG / Blackrain Press Republished from the OB Rag under the Fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Get the original story here. Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of…

Orange County Register: Spent nuclear waste burial halted

August 25, 2018August 28, 2018 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

Spent nuclear waste burial halted at San Onofre until NRC can probe ‘near miss’ with canister. Public Watchdogs “alarmed” that NRC waited more than two weeks to investigate. Vertical Cask Transporter First fuel move Jan. 30-31, 2018 San Onfore (Courtesy of Southern California Edison) This story is reproduced from the Orange County Register under the Fair Use provision of U.S. Copyright law. Get the original story…

San Onofre Settlement Deal “Unimpressive” improvement to “Rape of Ratepayers”

July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 Public Watchdogs Leave a comment

CPUC wipes away Peevey/Edison collusion, criminal investigation Ratepayers get minor relief; law firm gets $5.4 million By Don Bauder, July 27, 2018 The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) yesterday (July 26) made an unimpressive adjustment to a rape of the ratepayer that began with a secret meeting between the then-top commissioner, Michael Peevey, and a representative of Southern California Edison in a hotel in Warsaw, Poland. Peevey sketched…