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Southern California Edison’s response to County Supervisor Jim Desmond’s questions about COVID19 and nuclear waste safety at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

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On March 24, 2020, Public Watchdogs sent a letter to San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond.  The letter asked Mr. Desmond to request a halt to the ongoing movement of deadly nuclear waste at San Onofre during the COVID19 epidemic. Below is Edison’s reply to Supervisor Desmond’s questions, received via email  at 10:20am on March 26, 2020. Questions in bold…. Are the operations at San Onofre,…

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Downloading and handling of deadly  spent nuclear fuel will continue at  SONGS during COVID-19 outbreak

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NRC allows nuclear facilities to self-regulate Today at a  Nuclear Regulatory  Commission (NRC teleconference on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nuclear safety, Donna Gilmore of San Onofre Safety  ( https://sanonofresafety.org/ ) asked the NRC if it required testing of nuclear workers for the COVID-19 virus at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The NRC spokesperson replied that the NRC does not require virus…

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NRC refuses to release “secret” flood analysis of nuclear waste at San Onofre

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Holtec, the company that makes the nuclear waste canisters that are used at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,  has conducted  a secret flood analysis of the facility. Public Watchdogs believes this analysis must be made public. The public has a right to know why the NRC is allowing private companies like Holtec to keep an ISFSI flood analysis a secret, when ultimately, it was the public that paid for it.

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Transcript of Public Watchdogs public 2.206 teleconference with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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Yesterday, Public Watchdogs’ attorneys made a 28-minute presentation to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission arguing for an immediate halt to the movement and burial of deadly radioactive nuclear waste next to the public beach at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. In an abundance of caution, and a deep concern that the NRC may not publish the proceedings on its SONGS Cask Loading web…

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Public Watchdogs urges California Coastal Commission to delay approval of SONGS demolition.

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Today, Public Watchdogs filed documents urging the California Coastal Commission to postpone the approval of Southern California Edison’s plan to demolish the spent fuel pools and other structures at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).  Get the letter here. Get details for attending the meeting here. Public Watchdogs argues that the vote is premature due to pending litigation, that “special conditions” imposed by Coastal Commission…

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Public Watchdogs files 2.206 petition with NRC to halt unsafe storage of spent nuclear fuel at SONGS.

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September 24, 2019 — Today, the nonprofit advocacy group Public Watchdogs announced that it has filed a 2.206 petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting an immediate halt to the ongoing transfer and storage of deadly nuclear waste at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).   The public has the right to ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to take enforcement action through Title 10…

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Public Watchdogs files lawsuit to halt burial of nuclear waste

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The nonprofit consumer group Public Watchdogs has filed a lawsuit to halt the transport of nuclear waste into steel-lined silos on the beach at San Onofre State Beach Park. Public Watchdogs is the only advocacy group engaged in litigation against the beachfront San Onofre Nuclear Waste Dump owned and operated by Southern California Edison. Public Watchdogs has retained the services of former Department of Justice prosecutor, Chuck La Bella to coordinate a disciplined team of attorneys and subject matter experts in opposition to the project.

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Public Watchdogs seeks court order to stop burial of deadly nuclear waste

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Dateline, August 28, 2019, San Diego — Today, the nonprofit advocacy group Public Watchdogs announced that it is is seeking a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop the beachfront burial of nuclear waste at San Onofre State Beach Park.  The request for a restraining order is part of a larger legal action against Southern California Edison. This page was updated with conformed copies 09-04-19, 9:24 am….

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SCE to Restart Fuel Transfer Operations at San Onofre Nuclear Plant

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On July 15, 2019, Southern Califronia Edison announced that it would resume the transfer of spent nuclear fuel (i.e. lethally radioactive waste) at its beachfront nuclear waste dump located at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The movement of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) was stopped for almost a year on August 3, 2018 when a 100,000 pound canister of SNF was nearly dropped 18 feet in what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) calls a “near-miss.” Southern California Edison worked closely with the NRC to keep this harrowing “near-miss” and an additional unreported “near-miss” on July 22, 2018, a secret from the public.

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Did Holtec “persuade” federal employees with cash incentives?

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  The next time you hear a government employee or government contractor defending Holtec International, or awarding the company a juicy federal contract, keep in mind that the employee who made the decision may have benefited from gifts of cash or entertainment from Holtec.  At least that’s what is alleged in this blockbuster story by the Philadelphia Inquirer.         Kris Singh, CEO of…

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

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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…

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New Government Accountability Office Report highlights failure of NRC to protect public against “dirty bombs”

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The non-partisan congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a troubling report on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s failure to protect the public from “Dirty Bombs”  The GAO was chartered by Congress to investigate and audit how  taxpayer dollars are spent by federal agencies. This report is a bombshell, yet it has been largely ignored since its publication last April The new report is titled COMBATING NUCLEAR…

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

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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.

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