In light of the on-going California fires let’s ensure better radiation monitoring, reduced public health risk and safe evacuation for our coastal community. The Samuel Lawrence Foundation feels it’s important to share a crucial report released by Public Watchdogs, which illustrates how Southern California Edison (SCE/Edison) and federal nuclear safety regulators play “radioactive Russian roulette” with public health and safety at SONGS, the now shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant. Some 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste sits 100’ from the beach in thin metal canisters at this site.
The report, titled “Radiological Regulatory Failure,” details how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted SCE sweeping exemptions from emergency planning and safety requirements, despite objections from California’s state officials.
Key findings include:
• There is no emergency planning for the 10-mile radiation zone around San Onofre.
• SCE is not obligated to maintain evacuation plans or notify the public promptly of a radiation release.
• Only three workers per shift will monitor and secure the site’s 3.6 million pounds of deadly nuclear waste.
• The NRC reclassified San Onofre to have the same security requirements as a “medical research facility”.
• Edison is exempt from working with local authorities on terrorist attack scenarios.
• Allowed Edison officials to remain anonymous in emergency situations and exempted Edison from providing organizational charts showing chain of command and identity of responsible executives during a nuclear emergency at SONGS
Charles Langley, executive director of Public Watchdogs, called the exemptions “recklessly permissive” and warned they set a dangerous precedent for decommissioning nuclear plants nationwide.
“The NRC has interpreted silence in the law as permission to grant Edison a ‘get out of jail free’ card if disaster strikes,” Langley said. “But silence isn’t golden here – it’s deadly.”
The California Energy Commission strongly objected to the exemptions, and argued they would “unreasonably diminish” public safety safeguards. However, the NRC approved them anyway just two weeks later.
Critics say the exemptions leave the region dangerously unprepared for potential accidents or attacks at the beachfront nuclear waste dump. SCE maintains the site poses minimal risk now that it’s no longer operational.
“The exemptions granted to Southern California Edison are deeply concerning and put millions of lives at risk,” said Bart Ziegler, President of the Samuel Lawrence Foundation. “With 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste sitting in dangerously vulnerable conditions at San Onofre Beach, we need more robust safety measures, better monitoring and containment measures for leaks.
The NRC’s decision to drastically reduce emergency planning and security requirements is alarming, as it puts the health and of 9 million people living within 50 miles of San Onofre in peril were a natural or human disaster to occur. As one nuclear physicist cited in the report warned, an incident at San Onofre could potentially be “40 times worse than Chernobyl”.
Now is the time to take action to avoid the Government failures of the LA fires. It’s time to put our Federal, State and Local government leaders on notice we expect action.
