Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/san-onofre/)
The San Onofre nuclear reactor’s release of radioactive water and material into the ocean and air near south Orange County pose a number of safety questions for surfers and beach goers who frequent the area.
Sea level rise and questions about the integrity of radioactive waste storage canisters are propelling local anxiety over the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear reactor.
Highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel will be stored onsite at San Onofre for the foreseeable future. SoCal Edison will save untold $millions should the public be swayed to trust in Edison’s promises that their thin-walled dry canister storage system can’t fail and that a national repository will magically materialize in time to save the day. Safe nuclear waste storage activists want the waste moved now to more robust, thick-walled casks with safety features lacking in thin-walled canisters.
Securing a long-term solution to spent nuclear fuel storage has proved daunting in the U.S. Making the task more difficult is the amount of misinformation put forward by some regarding the nature of spent nuclear fuel and its storage. John Dobken, San Onofre nuclear plant public information officer, argues for a science and fact-based discussion of the issue.
Nuclear safety advocates are right to question SoCal Edison’s decision to remove the cooling pools at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Edison should follow the example of the Swiss who have chosen to make safety the top priority in designing storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel.
Sarah “Steve” Mosko writes that Orange County residents need to support efforts to revoke the California Coastal Commission’s granting of a permit for storing nuclear waste near San Onofre State Beach.
Jack Eidt and Jerry Collamer take on SDGE’s plan for burying radioactive waste on the site of the former San Onofre nuclear power generating station based near San Clemente and the world class surfing beach known as Trestles.
Citizens took aim at So Cal Edison and their plans to bury high level nuclear waste near the beach at San Onofre State Park this week, holding their own public hearing at Laguna Beach City Hall.
At a packed public meeting Tuesday, officials joined activists in calling for a hearing before the nuclear power plant is allowed to restart.
Tuesday’s event comes as regulators announce an “expansive investigation” into whether the plant’s operator rejected safety measures that could have prevented a radiation leak last year.