Ironically, Edison’s March 28th Community Engagement panel Meeting took place on the
40th Anniversary of the Three-Mile-Island (TMI) nuclear meltdown.
Two NRC representatives attended the meeting: Scott Morris, and Linda Howell.
The video excerpts below are from that meeting, which can be viewed in its entirety on
the Public Watchdogs YouTube Channel here.
On August 3, 2018, a delicate thin-walled steel canister filled with a 100,000 pound payload
of deadly spent nuclear fuel was caught on a quarter inch steel flange as it was being lowered
into a storage silo at the beachfront nuclear waste dump. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
called the event a “near-miss” or a “near-hit.” Edison failed to report the event publicly for
almost 45 days in violation of Title 10, Federal Law, CFR 72.75(d)(1).
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting.
“On August 9th, Tom Palmisano came up here and lied to every one of us …”
San Clemente resident Jeff Steinmetz explains how Edison’s Chief Nuclear Officer, Tom Palmisano,
lied to the public about a near-miss nuclear waste accident at the beachfront San Onofre Nuclear
Waste Dump. Then Mr. Steinmetz proves it, by playing a recording of Mr. Palmisano’s deceptive
public statements from the August 9, 2018 Community Engagement Panel meeting.
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting.
“How disgraceful of you.”
The Honorable Mike Aguirre, the former elected City Attorney for the City of San Diego and former
Department of Justice Assistant United States Attorney, gives five reasons why Southern California
Edison and the NRC can’t be trusted.
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting.
“Please … Do your job and enforce the law!”
Charles Langley, Executive Director of Public Watchdogs asks the NRC to enforce criminal
provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations for nuclear safety laws. The NRC Inspection
Report stated that Edison was in clear violation of CFR 72.75 reporting requirements, but it did
not bother cite or fine Edison for its blatant disregard for Federal law.
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting
“A perception of retaliation ”
Nina Babiarz, a Public Watchdogs Board Member, recounts her experience as a reporter in
Pennsylvania the day that the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant went into a partial
meltdown, causing mass evacuations. Three Mile Island was also an Edison power plant.
During the crisis, Edison lied to Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor. Ms. Babiarz cites
Page 9 of the NRC Inspection Report on San Onofre which states that employees are afraid of
reporting safety violations out of fear of retaliation.
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting
“The Safety Analysis report said unequivocally
that there will be no scratches on the canisters.“
NRC Region IV Administrator, Scott Morris, explains that the problem with the Holtec
nuclear waste storage system at San Onofre is that Holtec promised “unequivocally” that there
would be no damages to the nuclear waste canisters as they were being downloaded into their
beachfront silos. Now the NRC is in the embarrassing position of having to defend its approval
of a flawed design that has resulted in damages to every one of the 29 canisters that have been
downloaded at the SONGS Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI).
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting
“We continued to inform them that our position
was that it [the near-miss] was reportable.“
NRC Region IV Deputy Director, Linda Howell, explains that Edison waited 45 days to
formally report the August 3 near-miss because Edison was ignorant of the law. In this clip,
Edison’s former Chief Nuclear Officer, Tom Palmisano, enthusiastically confirms Edison’s ignorance
of the law.
In its preliminary inspection report, the NRC failed to cite Edison’s violation of Federal Law on the
grounds that Edison was ignorant of the law. In the beginning of the clip, NRC administrator Scott
Morris explains that there was also a similar unreported unsecured load event on July 22, but that
it was not a violation of law.
This is one of the many reasons that Public Watchdogs believes the NRC inspection is a
meaningless sham.
March 28, 2019, Southern California Edison Community Engagement Panel meeting
“Its a LEMON.“
Donna Gilmore, Founder of San Onofre Safety explains the problem.
Related Stories and Resources:
NRC inspection paves the way to additional safety lapses at SONGS
13 Reasons the NRC inspection at San Onofre is probably a sham
NRC refuses to allow independent monitoring
Letter to Linda Howell protesting NRC denial of independent public observers
Orange County Register: Spent Nuclear Waste Burial Halted
OB Rag: August a cruel month for San Onofre nuke plant
KUSI NEWS video: The NRC’s $116,000 fine is “chump change.”
Thank you for posting the riveting synopsis points from the CEP meeting. Thank you Public Watchdogs for fighting for us. I’m not from California but we all know that what happens in California does not stay in California. When environmental laws are bypassed or approved there is sets precedent for the entire US.