San Onofre HI-STORM UMAX system should be recalled. Don’t build another one in New Mexico.
On January 23rd and 24th at 8AM to 4PM PST the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) holds oral arguments on the Holtec Spent Fuel Storage application for the proposed New Mexico Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS) nuclear waste storage facility.
Listen-only call-in number:
888-790-1895 and passcode 5046496
This is the same defective Holtec HI-STORM UMAX dry storage system design used at San Onofre. The NRC admits this Holtec system unavoidably gouges the walls of all thin-wall canisters as they are being downloaded into the Holtec storage holes. The NRC said this is an engineering flaw that cannot be fixed with procedures or training and yet the NRC does not plan to cite Holtec for this problem. Gouges, cracks and other “wear marks” can lead to failure of the canisters.
Each canister holds roughly the amount of radioactive Cesium-137 and other radionuclides as released from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Canisters will not only be gouged when they are downloaded, they will be gouged again when they are retrieved from the storage holes. Then canisters will be gouged again as they are loaded in the proposed New Mexico Holtec UMAX system.
If canisters arrive leaking in New Mexico, Holtec’s plan is to return them to sender. Neither the proposed Holtec New Mexico facility nor the San Onofre facility has a system in place to prevent or deal with leaking canisters. Unbelievably, the NRC finds this acceptable.
This Holtec system is a lemon and should be recalled. Instead of wasting time and money on evaluating another Holtec system, the NRC should focus on recalling this system and revoking both Holtec and SCE licenses for this system. Sign petition to recall and replace San Onofre defective thin-wall canisters with proven thick-wall casks.
NRC ACRS Holtec New Mexico CIS proceeding details
- Listen-only call-in number: 888-790-1895 and passcode 5046496
- NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to Hold Oral Arguments in Albuquerque on Holtec Spent Fuel Storage Application Press Release
Location: State Bar of New Mexico, 5121 Masthead NE, Albuquerque, NM
Mountain Standard Time: 9:00AM to 5:00PM
- Oral argument concerning HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility
- Order (Establishing Format for Oral Argument) in the matter of Holtec International (HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility), Docket No. 72-1051-ISFSI, January 10, 2019
See details on the many San Onofre Holtec System problems and on the many CIS safety issues at SanOnofreSafety.org
San Onofre Safety 
This is intentional (gross) negligence. This is a World/America matter. Look at how Vermont moved its waste to Texas. It is step-by-step without one incidence. To the best of my knowledge, not one politician in this area is fighting for what is right. We must escalate now to our Governor, Senior Senator and the President. Once it is buried it can not be moved. Any one with common sense knows this. New Mexico tried to remove its buried waste to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Are you a where of what happened? I am very angry at the ignorance regarding the waste. So let me (again) get this straight–they plan to leave it on site at San Onofre, which is next door to the Marine base that when practicing the entire coast shakes; it is on an earthquake fault; steps to I-5 and train tracks, and the Pacific Ocean will encroach on this site within a couple of years. Once the waste leaks into our Blue Planet, it will be there for life. Japan’s waste has already showed up in Hawaii, Washington State, and other areas. This is morally wrong and therefore not correct. Let’s let the world know–NOW.
Vermont still has its highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel in Vermont. It’s stored in Holtec canisters, many with defective fuel basket shims. The waste that went to Texas is low level waste. Very different. The highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is much more dangerous, fragile, and explosive. It’s also stored in thin-wall canisters that cannot be inspected before transport. It must be transported by rail instead of by truck. There is much misinformation about the transport issues. Learn the truth at this webpage link. https://sanonofresafety.org/holtec-hi-storm-umax-nuclear-waste-dry-storage-system
A long with the canisters , We might all watch for the WINDS of change . Thirty miles in any direction, radioactive winds would bring unimaginable horror and devastation . And it wouldn’t stop there.