New documents expose horrific safety lapses at SONGS

For Immediate Release, September 30, 2016
Contact: Charles Langley (858) 752-4600

Today, the nonprofit group Public Watchdogs published Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) documents authorizing massive safety planning and response exemptions in the event of a wide-scale radiation disaster at the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).

The documents have been published as part of a two-part investigative report by NBC San Diego.

“These exemption documents and sensitive NRC internal memos show a horrific lapse in the NRC’s  commitment to protect the public’s safety”  says Charles Langley, the executive director or Public Watchdogs.

According to its Mission Statement, the NRC’s job is to “protect public health and safety,” yet the new exemptions stop FEMA from responding to a nuclear disaster in Southern California (Get internal memo here).

The documents show that almost every one of the important emergency response provisions required by Federal law have been waived by NRC bureaucrats.  The exemptions were issued by the NRC at the request of the power plant’s owner, Southern California Edison.

“These exemptions show that Edison has abandoned its commitment to protecting the public in the event of a major offsite nuclear waste accident” says  Langley.

To view the documents, visit the Public Watchdogs and click on “smoking gun” or go to the deep link here.