Updates

Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no “Plan B” for a canister failure at San Onofre

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Dateline August 8, 2018 — During today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Webinar, (get the Public Watchdogs Video Capture Here) a top NRC  official admitted that the beachfront San Onofre Nuclear Waste Dump, which is owned and operated by Southern California Edison, has no backup plan for repairing or safely storing a damaged nuclear waste container. During the public  question-and-answer segment of the Webinar, Donna Gilmore, a…

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7.1 Earthquake deepens fears of a nuclear release at failed San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

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San Diego, CA, July 12, 2019 – Last week, Southern California was hit by an earthquake with a 7.1 magnitude. The earthquake shook most of Southern California including  the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), where 3.6 million pounds of deadly nuclear waste is in the process of being buried  in Holtec canisters 108 ft. from the ocean. It remains unclear if SoCal Edison has an…

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

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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…

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NRC June 3 2019 Webinar now available at PublicWatchdogs.org

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The June 3, 2019 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Webinar is now available at the Public Watchdogs YouTube Channel. The NRC has promised that it will publish a video of today’s deeply disturbing Webinar, but we doubt they”ll get around to publishing it for several weeks, so we have published it here. The webinar was  is supposed to reassure the public that the NRC is actually doing…

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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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NRC “enforcement decision” represents a miserable failure to regulate.

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Today, the nonprofit public safety advocacy group, Public Watchdogs, reacted to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission email touting an “enforcement decision,” at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s beachfront nuclear waste dump, by calling the agency a “miserable failure.” Breaking news: April 26, 2019, 3:50PM NRC “Enforcement Action” against Holtec shows a complete failure to regulate USA’s  nuclear waste stockpile. Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that…

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Public Watchdogs sues State Lands Commission to stop destruction of Spent Fuel Pools

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Dateline San Diego, April 26, 2019 —Today, Public Watchdogs announced that it has filed a second legal action against the beachfront San Onofre Nuclear Waste Dump owned by Southern California Edison (Edison).  Get the lawsuit here. The lawsuit aims to prevent the tear-down of the spent nuclear fuel pools, which currently hold more than two-million pounds of nuclear waste that is lethal to human life for…

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April 10, 2019, recording of Holtec and NRC Joint Public Relations event

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Is the NRC embarrassed, or just secretive?    Every lowered canister containing nuclear waste at San Onofre has been gouged during the loading process. This is a problem, because even small scratches can create a toe-hold for stress corrosion cracking, which has the potential to destroy the integrity of a canister in a matter of years. The NRC has refused to publish a transcript, or this…

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Public Watchdogs PSA aims to put Southern California Edison on the ropes

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Press Advisory:  9-Year-Old Girl Strikes blow for justice in “hard-hitting” nuclear awareness PSA Today, Public Watchdogs announced that it has launched a hard hitting television and social media campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of deadly radioactive waste being stored at San Onofre State Beach Park in San Diego California.  Get the official press release. The public service announcement, which stars a ferociously cute nine-year-old girl,…

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NRC inspection paves the way to additional safety lapses at SONGS

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On March 25, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced  that it was fining the utility giant Southern California Edison (SCE) $116,000.00 for violations of Federal Nuclear Safety Law. The decision comes as a disappointment to public safety advocates on the grounds that the comparatively paltry  fine will pave the way to additional safety lapses in the future at SCE’s controversial beachfront Nuclear Wast Dump, which is located…

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

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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.

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