An open letter to our North County community from the Samuel Lawrence Foundation Board of Directors:
The Samuel Lawrence Foundation (SLF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes community access to science, education, and the arts. A key focus of our outreach is addressing the health and safety concerns surrounding the potential leaking of toxic radioactive waste at San Onofre.
We care deeply about solving the long-term safe storage of radioactive waste, aka spent nuclear fuel, for several critical reasons:
ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
The accumulation of nearly 200 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel (aka radioactive waste) across 35 U.S. states poses a significant and growing threat to public health and the environment. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) case exemplifies this danger, with 3.55 million pounds of radioactive waste stored precariously close to the Pacific Ocean, major population centers, and critical infrastructure located on two earthquake faults and in a tsunami zone.
The radioactive waste is stored in 5/8 ” thin-walled stainless steel canisters encased in a concrete overpack.
By design, thin-wall canisters continuously stream various types of radiation, including gamma and neutron radiation, out of the air vents of their concrete overpacks — even when there are no cracks in the canisters. The canisters cannot and do not stop neutron or gamma radiation from being released into the surrounding atmosphere.
When water or fog enters the vents of the concrete overpack, the thin-wall canisters create new radiation, such as radioactive water and radioactive carbon particles, from the neutron bombardment of the water and carbon-based particles within the surrounding air. That’s why we say, “It’s Everywhere!” when referring to radiation coming from San Onofre.
San Onofre has frequent fog. Once the fog flows through the air vents, it becomes radioactive. How much radioactive fog are you potentially breathing? The NRC has waived that requirement, so nuclear facilities do not measure radioactive water or radioactive carbon.
IMMEDIATE RISKS
• Potential radiation exposure from accidents or natural disasters
• Contamination of water sources and food chains
• Zirconium fire hazards in densely packed spent canisters
LONG-TERM CONCERNS
• Persistent radioactivity lasting thousands to millions of years
• Genetic damage and increased cancer risks for future generations
NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS
Solving this challenge has far-reaching consequences beyond environmental protection:
• Infrastructure Vulnerability: The proximity of waste storage to major transportation arteries and military bases poses significant security risks.
• Economic Burden: The $4.7 billion decommissioning process at SONGS alone demonstrates the enormous financial strain of managing nuclear waste.
• Energy Policy Impact: The unresolved waste issue hinders the development of nuclear energy as a carbon-neutral power source.
This is the first in a series of articles that SLF will be publishing in The Coast News about the radioactive waste issue at San Onofre. If you’d like to learn more about the nuclear waste stored at San Onofre, please visit SamuelLawrenceFoundation.org and kindly support us on Giving Tuesday, Dec 3, 2024.
