01/22/2013 San Diego Unified School District Board meeting — San Onofre on agenda

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Donna Gilmore

UPDATE: San Diego Unified School District Board approves the San Onofre resolution.  The resolution, introduced by board members Richard Barrera and Kevin Beiser, said “the San Diego Unified School District believes restarting the defective Unit 2 nuclear reactor at San Onofre will have profound impacts on our children in San Diego Unified and the surrounding communities in the event of a nuclear accident regarding radiation contamination of air, water and food, evacuation plans, and long term viability of life in Southern California.”

The resolution also supports a California Public Utilities Commission investigation into the reliability and costs of the plant, especially compared to alternative energy sources.

“Before restarting the nuclear reactor, San Onofre should undergo a rigorous and transparent public review of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing amendment process,” Beiser said.  “We must make certain that before restarting San Onofre nuclear power plant, it is safe for our community and our kids.”

San Diego School Board takes stand against San Onofre – CBS8 1/22/2013

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The San Diego Unified School District Board will consider a resolution regarding Southern California Edison’s proposed restart of the defective San Onofre Nuclear Reactor Unit 2.

The Board meeting is Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Press Conference by the Coalition to Decommission San Onofre, held outside the auditorium.)

Location:
SDUSD Headquarters, Eugene Brucker Education Center auditorium
4100 Normal Street, San Diego, CA 92103
 

San Diego Unified School District Board Vice President, Kevin Beiser, and Board Member Richard Barrera are introducing a Resolution (Agenda Item H.1) similar to that passed by the Del Mar City Council last fall.  According to Board Vice President Beiser,

“The Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District is considering this Resolution because restarting the defective Unit 2 nuclear reactor at San Onofre will have profound impacts on our children in San Diego Unified and the surrounding communities in the event of a nuclear accident regarding radiation contamination of air, water and food, evacuation plans, and long term viability of life in Southern California.”

The resolution states:

… the Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District urges the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require that Edison undergo a public, transparent license amendment hearing regarding the replacement steam generators, before the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is allowed to restart, and that the costs for doing so and the responsibility for paying said costs must also be known before restart is allowed; and

… the Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District strongly supports the California Public Utilities Commission in: 1) expeditiously completing its Investigation regarding the costs and reliability of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and 2) comparing the reliability and costs of the San Onofre facility to a future based on alternatives, including efficiency, load management, demand response, renewable energy, and energy storage.

The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre will have several speakers including a Del Mar City Council member, a Public Health R.N., a retired SDUSD principal and parent, and a SDUSD Student Representative. Learn what Edison won’t tell you.

Several Southern California City Councils have added their voices to the call for an adjudicated license amendment and hearing process prior to restart of the crippled San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant in defense of their residents and businesses, including Del Mar, Encinitas, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, Santa Monica and Solana Beach. The cities of San Clemente and Vista have joined in Senators Boxer’s and Feinstein’s call for the NRC to modify its policies and procedures in light of the Fukushima meltdowns, to further protect their residents and businesses.

SDUSC Board Meeting Information
Friends of the Earth San Onofre News
Posted in Action Alert, Events, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nightmare of Nuclear Waste

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Donna Gilmore

An excellent educational video showing the many problems of nuclear waste.

Learn more about radiation monitoring.
Learn more about radiation health risks.
 
 
Posted in Marine Life, Nuclear Waste, Radiation Monitoring, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

01/16/2013 Maryland NRC meeting: Friends of the Earth San Onofre petition

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Donna Gilmore

Friends of the Earth (FOE) petitioner will address the NRC Petition Review Board (PRB) in Maryland on 1/16/2013 regarding restart of the San Onofre nuclear power plant.  

UPDATE: Listen to Arnie Gundersen as he makes his slide presentation.

In this podcast, Fairewinds looks at how difficult it is for the public to meaningfully participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing process. Arnie Gundersen was retained by Friends of the Earth to assess major problems at the San Onofre nuclear plant in California that have caused a year long shutdown. Arnie presented his analysis of what went wrong and how the problems were foreseeable. In this podcast, Arnie discusses how the NRC and Southern California Edison deliberately withheld information to make his technical analysis more difficult to accomplish. Fairewinds taped the meeting, so listeners can hear for themselves the difficulties Arnie encountered and the games the NRC and Southern California Edison played to prevent his participation.

UPDATE: Link to 2012-01-16 Arnie Gundersen FOE slide presentation

UPDATE from FOE: Slides from nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen’s presentation will be available at www.fairewinds.org/nrc-petition-presentation-2013-1-16 Gundersen will be available for questions at (802) 238-4452 immediately following the meeting.  See Friends of the Earth News Release http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2013-01-san-onofre-expert-testimony-shows-how-edisons-failure-led-to-nuclear-crisis

UPDATE from NRC: To assist in today’s meeting, go to NRC’s ADAMS for the presentation (See below).  NRC hopes to have this up on the SONGS Steam Generator portion of the NRC’s Website later today, however, they only receive it this morning, and there is some delay.

 View ADAMS P8 Properties ML13016A077
Open ADAMS P8 Package (Presentation from Friends of the Earth for Meeting with the NRC on 1/16/13.)

Teleconference number is 877-553-7601. When prompted, provide the following passcode: 5087356 (and a # sign). You will be asked for your name, which will be recorded.

MEETING CONTACT:
Brian Benney, NRR
301-415-2767
Brian.Benney@nrc.gov
 
MEETING DATE: Wednesday, January 16, 2013
TIME: 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. PST (12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST )
 
LOCATION: 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
One White Flint North
Commission Hearing Room O-1F16
11555 Rockville Pike
Rockville, Maryland 20852
 

This is a Category 3 public meeting, where the public is normally invited to participate in the meeting by providing comments and asking questions throughout the meeting. In this instance, the public (including those on the phone bridge line) will have an opportunity to ask questions pertaining only to the 10 CFR 2.206 processes, after the FOE petitioner completes his uninterrupted presentation to the PRB .

This meeting is an opportunity for the Petitioner to provide information to the Petition Review Board. This is not a hearing and no decisions will be made during this meeting.

[NOTE: Local citizens requested all public meetings be held in the area most impacted by San Onofre.  Our requests were denied.]

PURPOSE OF MEETING:

On November 8,2012, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) approved a Memorandum and Order (CLI-12-20) to address the intervention petition (SECY-12-0117), where Friends of the Earth (FOE) argued that Southern California Edison (SCE) violated Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.59 [license amendment process] when the steam generators for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 2 and 3, were replaced in 2010 and 2011 without a license amendment FOE requested a hearing on its 10 CFR 50.59 claim, and asked that its petition not be construed as a request for enforcement relief under 10 CFR 2.206. In a subsequent submittal, FOE stated that the 10 CFR 2.206 process was not a “viable alternative” for obtaining relief. The Commission disagreed and referred this portion of FOE’s petition to the Executive Director for Operations (EDO) for consideration as a petition under 10 CFR 2.206. The purpose of this meeting is to provide the petitioner with an opportunity to address the NRC Petition Review Board (PRB), pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206.

AGENDA

FORTHCOMING MEETING WITH PETITIONER RICHARD AYRES, COUNSEL TO FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, AYRES LAW GROUP REQUESTING ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

January 16, 2013 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST

12:30 p.m. -12:35p.m.    Introductions and opening remarks (Brian Benney, Senior Project Manager; Sher Bahadur. Petition Review Board Chairman)

12 :35 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.   Remarks from petitioner (Richard Ayres)

1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.      Questions from the Petition Review Board

1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.     Public questions/comments on the 10 CFR 2.206 process

3:00 p.m.                            Adjourn

This meeting will be recorded and transcribed by an NRC Court Reporter. The meeting transcript will be placed in ADAMS following the meeting to provide a written account of this meeting.

NRC 1/16/2013 meeting announcement and agenda

Friends of the Earth legal brief charges San Onofre reactor restart plan is in breach of license 1/11/2013

Posted in Action Alert, Events, Friends of the Earth, NRC, nuclear power, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

1/8/2013 San Francisco CPUC prehearing conference on San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Donna Gilmore

Please attend the January 8th 2013 California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) public prehearing conference to show your concerns about the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Groups from around the state are gathering at this first hearing in the San Onofre investigation by the CPUC.

Location:  CPUC Courtroom, 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA.
Time: 10:00 a.m. (Press Conference about noon).
Press Conference: Approximately noon on the front steps of the CPUC building. See Women’s Energy Matters Press Release.

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Prehearing Conference: Order Instituting Investigation (OII) on the CPUC’s Own Motion into the Rates, Operations, Practices, Services and Facilities of Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas & Electric Associated with the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 (Proceeding I.12-10-013).  Staff: ALJ: Melanie Darling  COMMISSIONER: Michel Peter Florio

Link to CPUC Prehearing Conference website
Link to Details on San Onofre OII Proceeding

Message to the CPUC from Ratepayers

It’s time to cut our losses and permanently shut down the defective San Onofre nuclear reactors.

    • Edison’s plan to restart (even at partial power) defective and damaged equipment is unacceptable. This is not a prudent or reasonable plan for ensuring cost effective and reliable power.
    • Forcing customers to pay potentially billions of dollars for Edison’s aging and crippled nuclear reactors is unacceptable. Edison and SDG&E customers already have some of the highest electricity rates in California and the nation.
    • The CPUC investigation should analyze costs and reliability through the current license period. This will show that Edison’s mismanaged, defective and aging nuclear reactors are a bad investment for California ratepayers.
    • Near-term replacements for San Onofre power should emphasize reducing demand, and strengthening energy efficiency and renewable options. This would address economic and environmental impacts from the San Onofre outage.
    • OII proceedings regarding San Onofre should be conducted in the area most impacted by the decisions of these proceedings.

Copy of above message to the CPUC – with important expanded details

Letter to CPUC from Del Mar City Council 10/23/2012

Resources

News Reports

The new steam generators are designed to last longer, said Mike Wharton, manager of the steam-generator replacement project. “They are designed for 40 years,” he said. “We expect we’ll actually be able to get 60 years out of them … better materials, better design. You learn over the course of years what works well and what doesn’t, and you try to build it into the next generation.”

For more than eight months, ratepayers of Southern California Edison have been paying $54 million a month — a per-customer average of more than $10 — for a nuclear power plant that has been delivering no electricity. This situation should never have been allowed to drag on for so long.

Ratepayers have been paying for the costs of replacing the steam generators and have continued paying for the plant’s capital and operating costs despite the fact that it is producing no power. According to the commission proposal, Edison and SDG&E are collecting $1.1 billion a year from ratepayers for costs relating to the plant.

The organization that runs California’s energy grid is planning ahead in case the San Onofre nuclear plant remains out of commission in the summer of 2013.

Thanks to a thoroughly botched $770-million equipment “upgrade,” the plant hasn’t been online since January and may not operate ever again. The best-case scenario is that it might get restarted sometime around the end of this year or early next, but there’s no guarantee that it will run at full strength even then.  Meanwhile, the ratepayers keep paying. Over the more than six months that San Onofre has been dark, the bill has come to $25 for every Californian in its service district, man, woman and child. The old adage that “you get what you pay for” apparently doesn’t apply in Edisonland.

Posted in Action Alert, CPUC, Events, Press Release, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

12/18/2012 Maryland: NRC meeting to review San Onofre restart plan

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Donna Gilmore
Meeting Analysis and Video

___________________________

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff will hold a public meeting in Maryland to review Southern California Edison’s October 3,2012, response to the NRC’s March 27,2012, Confirmatory Action Letter and Return to Service report for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 2.

Local community groups requested the meeting be held in the area most impacted by San Onofre.  Those requests were denied.

DATE: Tuesday, December 18, 2012
TIME: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PST (1 :00 p.m. -4:00 p.m. EST )
LOCATION: 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
One White Flint North
Commissioners’ Hearing Room
11555 Rockville Pike
Rockville, Maryland 20852

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This is a Category 1 Meeting. The public is invited to participate in this meeting and will have one or more opportunities to communicate with the NRC after the business portion, but before the meeting is adjourned. Proprietary information may be discussed at certain times during the meeting. These portions of the meeting will be closed to members of the public who have not been granted access to the information by the owner of the information.

Participants from the NRC include staff members from the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) and the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES).

Interested members of the public can participate in this meeting via Webcast link or toll-free audio teleconference.

  • Webcast link: http://video.nrc.gov. This link to the NRC webcast page will permit the user to select the meeting to be viewed and the viewing speed. The meeting link will become active approximately one hour prior to meeting start.
  • Teleconference bridge number: 888-677-3916; passcode 47860. [approximately 400 caller maximum]. Callers will initially be placed in a “listen only” status. At the designated point in the agenda, two-way calling will be enabled, so that the public may ask questions of the NRC staff regarding the meeting discussions.

Given that the seating capacity of the meeting facility is limited, participation via webcast is encouraged. Individuals interested in attending the meeting in person are requested to send an email to one of the meeting contacts listed below.

Randy Hall, NRR
randy.hall@nrc.gov
301-415-4032
 
Brian Benney, NRR
brian.benney@nrc.gov
301-415-2767
 
NRC Official Meeting Notice and Agenda
12/18/2012 NRC meeting slides
12/18/2012 Edison meeting slides
NRC Public Meeting Feedback Form
NRC draft request to Edison for additional information 11/30/2012
NRC draft request to Edison for additional information 12/10/2012
 

The NRC has a website dedicated to the San Onofre steam generator issues. It includes relevant documents and a milestone schedule. The following schedule is subject to change, so check the NRC San Onofre Steam Generator Tube Degradation website for the latest milestone schedule.

Expected Date: Milestone

  • Dec 3 – 7, 2012:  CAL onsite inspection (Unit 2)(additional inspection activities may be needed)
  • Dec 18, 2012:  Category 1 public meeting at NRC headquarters to discuss ongoing technical review/RAIs. (additional working level meetings may be needed)
  • mid-Feb 2013:  Category 1 public meeting in Southern California with licensee on status of CAL inspection & technical evaluation. Possible inspection exit if inspection activities are complete.
  • late Feb-early Mar 2013:  Technical evaluation and Unit 2 CAL inspection report complete and publicly available.
  • March 2013:  Notify ASLB and parties of intent to issue decision regarding restart for Unit 2
  • 5-30 days after notification to ASLB and parties: Issue decision regarding restart for Unit 2.
Posted in Action Alert, Events, NRC, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

12/14/2012 Los Angeles City Council Meeting – San Onofre on agenda

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

The San Onofre nuclear power plant is on the Los Angeles City Council agenda for Friday December 14th, 2012. The meeting begins at 10:15 a.m.  San Onofre is Item #28 on the special agenda.

2012-12-14 LA City Council Meeting

12/14 City Counci Meeting – select photo to enlarge

Location
John Ferraro Council Chamber Rm 340
City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
 

City council meeting information

Video and Audio of Meetings (current and archived)

City Council meetings are broadcast live on cable television Channel 35 in Los Angeles and on the Internet at: ION CHANNEL 35 and on the internet at:

http://www.lacity.org/YourGovernment/CityCouncil/CouncilMeetings/LIVEandON-DEMANDVideo/index.htm

The public can also listen to live coverage of Los Angeles public meetings from any phone. Dial up and listen in using any one of these numbers!

      • Downtown (213) 621-CITY (2489)
      • San Pedro (310) 547-CITY (2489)
      • West Los Angeles (310) 471-CITY (2489)
      • Van Nuys (818) 904-9450

Please attend this meeting to show your support for the proposed resolution.

The city recognizes that San Onofre in within the 50 mile danger zone and proposes to includes in its 2011-2012 Federal Legislative Program SUPPORT for action by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make no decision about restarting either San Onofre Unit until Edison has completed a thorough, public, transparent license amendment with an adjudicatory hearing on whether it is safe to restart either reactor and a determination of what repairs, replacements, or other actions by Edison are necessary to guarantee both short- and long-term public safety. 

See full  proposed resolution.

Reasons why San Onofre Should be Shut Down – SanOnofreSafety.org
L.A. councilmen want hearings before San Onofre nuke plant reopens – LA Times 12/13/2012
Posted in Action Alert, City Council, Events, NRC, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

11/30/2012 Laguna Hills NRC meeting: Edison plan to restart broken San Onofre nuclear reactor

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

Southern California Edison is proposing to restart the defective Unit 2 San Onofre nuclear reactor WITHOUT fixing it first, even though both Unit 2 and 3 reactors are the most defective in U.S. History.  Please attend this meeting and print this handout of why San Onofre Nuclear Reactors should not be Restarted.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will meet with Edison to discuss their response to the NRC Confirmatory Action Letter of March 27, 2012, concerning actions required to be taken to address steam generator tube degradation at San Onofre nuclear power plant.  The public is invited to observe this meeting and will have an opportunity to communicate with the NRC after the business portion, but before the meeting is adjourned.

Hills Hotel map and parkingDATE & TIME:  
Friday, November 30th, 2012
6:00 p.m – 9:00 pm
4 p.m. Press Conference outside Hills Hotel by Coalition to Decommission San Onofre
 
LOCATION   
The Hills Hotel   949-586-5000
25205 La Paz Road, Laguna Hills, CA
 
PARKING
The Hills Hotel offers free parking (about 350 spaces for the entire hotel).  Overflow parking may be available across the street. 

This is a Category 1 meeting between NRC and Edison. This meeting will include a technical presentation by Edison on the basis, methodology, and conclusions of their efforts to identify the cause(s) of the unexpected steam generator tube wear, the corrective actions taken to address the cause(s), and the basis for continued safe operation of Unit 2. Through dialogue with Edison representatives, NRC staff will ensure that they understand the information presented. Utilizing the information provided by Edison in their October 3, 2012, response to the Confirmatory Action Letter, and the information provided during the meeting, the NRC staff will conduct inspections and evaluations to determine if Edison has satisfied their commitments documented in the March 27, 2012, Confirmatory Action Letter. The SCE presentation and dialogue with the NRC is expected to require the majority of the meeting time.

The NRC purposely chose a facility that would only hold 400 people, although local citizens requested a facility that would hold 1000 people, since that is the expected public attendance, based on past meetings.

Electronic copies of relevant documents, including the March 27, 2012, Confirmatory Action Letter and Edison’s October 3, 2012, response to the Confirmatory Action Letter, can be downloaded at the following website: http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/songs/tube-degradation.html

NRC Participants:

Art Howell, USNRC Region IV, Director, SONGS Special Project
Greg Werner, USNRC Region IV, Confirmatory Action Letter Inspection Lead
Doug Broaddus, USNRC, Branch Chief, DORL, NRR
Greg Warnick, USNRC, Senior Resident Inspector, SONGS

Southern California Edison Participants:

Pete Dietrich, Senior Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer
Tom Palmisano, Vice President, Engineering
Doug Bauder, Vice President and Station Manager

Webcast (Video)

This meeting will be available via public webcast at http://video.nrc.gov. The video stream will be active approximately one hour prior to the meeting start. The audio stream will be available once the meeting begins. The webcast will be one-way (i.e., webcast participants will not have the ability to ask questions during the meeting).

Teleconference (Audio)

To listen to the meeting, call via the following toll-free number: 1-888-913-9973. Participants will need to enter passcode 9941895 to enter the meeting. This is a “listen only” line.

Submit questions or comments regarding the meeting to OPA4.Resource@nrc.gov.

Meeting Contact: Ryan Lantz, Chief SONGS Special Projects Branch (817) 200-1173 Ryan.Lantz@nrc.gov

Posted in Action Alert, Events, NRC, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | 3 Comments

11/14/2012 Santa Monica – California Coastal Commission meeting on whale killing seismic surveys

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

UPDATE: The Coastal Commission rejected PG&E’s proposal and said they didn’t need to come back to try again.  

    • Coastal Commissioner Dayna Bochco said PG&E explained what the soundwaves would do. “They did convince me that there is a target there, 7 or 8 miles below the ocean, that would give them more information about the Hosgri Fault that maybe dips down under the plant, maybe not,” she said. But Bochco said when she asked if finding the fault line would prove definitively that the nuclear plant was safe, she was told it was highly unlikely. “And if it’s not going to tell you, then why am I doing this to the ocean?” she asked.
    • Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography had originally planned to begin seismic testing off San Onofre nuclear power plant this year. Because the plant is offline, its operator, Southern California Edison, had postponed that study. The Coastal Commission’s decision makes it unlikely the testing will happen any time soon. KPBS 11/14/2012

The California Coastal Commission meets Wednesday, November 14, 2012, at 9:00 am in Santa Monica to address PG&E’s proposed high-energy seismic surveys.  Some of the issues for PG&E are similar to the seismic survey issues for San Onofre and many of the Commission’s findings may apply to both nuclear power plants. Seismic surveys are planned for San Onofre this year by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at U.C. San Diego.

Meeting Location:
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – East Wing
1855 Main St., Santa Monica, CA  90401
(415) 407-3211 (Phone number will only be in service when the meeting is in session)
 

Please attend this meeting or contact the Commissioners and urge them to support the Coastal Commission staff recommendations to deny PG&E’s request. Tell the Commissioners the surveys are unnecessary and harmful.

    • Sufficient seismic data exists to know both Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear power plants are already at risk for earthquake damage from existing faults near the plants.
      • USGS says no scientist can predict the size of an earthquake and both California nuclear plants already sit near major earthquake faults.
      • “The information about how big an earthquake’s going to be may not be in the earth’s crust BEFORE the earthquake begins”, says USGS Pasadena seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones in her 9/2/2012 ABC interview.
    • Diablo Canyon (as well as San Onofre) are out of compliance with the once-through cooling requirement.  It will cost billions of dollars to comply with the once-through cooling requirements, so this issue should be addressed before considering the unnecessary seismic surveys.
    • California has 40% excess power without California’s nuclear power plants. According to California’s electric grid operator, the California Independent System Operator (ISO):
      • Diablo Canyon is not needed for energy or voltage support, so there is no need to relicense this plant.
      • The ISO has made preparations for another year without San Onofre. Both reactors have been off-line since January 31st, 2012 due to a radiation leak and decades of premature wear in newly installed defective steam generators.
    • The sonic blasts will maim and kill large numbers of whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, otters, and other marine life with high sonic sounds.
      • See Coastal Commission staff recommendations.
      • “Each of these underwater blasts will be at the volume level of a shock wave, that will instantly deafen, maim and possibly kill everything unfortunate enough to be in its path. A 240 dB blast is reportedly like being one foot away from the mouth of a large cannon. For a human, your ears, or what’s left of your ears, would probably never stop ringing. The consequences of experiencing this level of sound can only be presumed to be immediate and permanent deafness – if not worse. For sea life, beyond just broken eardrums, the transfer of low-frequency shock waves from water-air-water causes hemorrhaging of lungs and air-sacks, and will result in the death of marine mammals – whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and otters – and fish.  Independent journalist Dave Gurney, noyonews.net
      • “… seismic testing is a threat not only to whales, but to all of us, because it allows PG&E to delay removal of the nuclear plant from the earthquake fault.” Stop the Diablo Canyon Seismic Testing

Please urge California state representatives to help ensure approval is denied for these unnecessary studies.

11/14/2012 Agenda

GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT. Public comments will be heard at 9:00 am for items not on the agenda, for no more than 30 minutes. For those unable to attend the early comment period, there will be additional comment time available later in the day.
COASTAL PERMIT APPLICATIONS. The Commission may vote at the conclusion of the public hearing, or it may continue the matter to a subsequent meeting. Time limits are determined by the Chair but generally are 15 minutes combined total time per side. The applicant may reserve some time for rebuttal after the opponents speak.
Agenda Item 13. COASTAL PERMIT APPLICATIONS. See AGENDA CATEGORIES. Attention: Items appearing in this section of the agenda may be moved to the Consent Calendar for this area by the Executive Director when, prior to taking up the Consent Calendar, staff and the applicant are in agreement on the staff recommendation. If an item is moved to the Consent Calendar it will be processed in the same manner as other Consent Calendar items (See AGENDA CATEGORIES) except that if that item is subsequently removed from the Consent Calendar by a vote of three or more commissioners, the item will be acted upon at the meeting in the order in which it originally appears on this Meeting Notice and in the manner Coastal Permit Applications are processed. The purpose of this procedural change is to expedite the Commission’s coastal development permit process.
a. Application No. E-11-029 (Taylor Mariculture, Humboldt Co.) Application of Taylor Mariculture to establish a shellfish seed cultivation operation on an existing pier facility at Arcata Bay, Humboldt County. (CT-SF)
b. Application No. E-12-005 and CC-027-12 (Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Luis Obispo Co.) Application of PG&E to conduct a high energy three-dimensional geophysical survey employing use of air guns, hydrophones, and geophones in state and federal waters offshore San Luis Obispo County. (CT-SF)

Additional Resources

Posted in Action Alert, California Coastal Commission, California ISO, Earthquake, Energy Options, Events, How to Help, Marine Life, nuclear power, Once-Through Cooling (OTC), PG&E, SDG&E, Senator Barbara Boxer, Southern California Edison, USGS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NRC launches two proceedings about San Onofre’s future

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

Here is a statement from Damon Moglen, director of Friends of the Earth’s energy and climate campaign, on today’s decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on FOE’s petition regarding the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant:

In today’s decision, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has directed its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) and staff to consider the issues raised by Friends of the Earth in its petition filed June 18, 2012.

Specifically, the Commission:

  • Referred to the ASLB whether the current CAL process is a de facto license amendment process, requiring an adjudicatory public hearing;
  • Referred to the Commission staff whether Edison should have sought a license amendment, with attendant adjudicatory hearings, when it installed the defective steam generators in 2010-11;
  • Offered to reconsider convening an adjudicatory hearing if the ASLB denies FoE’s request;
  • Offered to reconsider staying the restart of the idled reactors if restart becomes imminent before the completion of the processes ordered above.
  • In addition, the Commission states that NRC staff is “…already evaluating whether these SCE actions required a license amendment.”

However, we believe that the Commission could, and should, have made a decision on its own to convene an adjudicatory hearing now about Edison’s plans to restart San Onofre. A hearing would provide assurance to the 8.4 million people of Southern California who live within 50 miles of the crippled plant that it will not be reopened unless it is entirely safe. Further administrative process unnecessarily leaves the public in limbo.

In any case, the details of this case are crystal clear: Edison made dramatic and irresponsible design changes to the new steam generators which it chose to represent to the NRC as a “like for like” exchange for the original steam generators. Accordingly, Edison never got a license amendment for this drastically altered design nor does it have a license amendment under which it would operate this defective equipment at partial power, as it has proposed to do in the controversial and reckless restart plan. Edison’s design errors have lead to the multi-hundred million dollar failure of brand new equipment which has in turn endangered the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in Southern California.

Our local citizens groups are in total agreement with Friends of the Earth’s position.  And Edison’s current proposal to restart the defective Unit 2 nuclear reactor makes it even clearer why we need an open, transparent hearing with independent nuclear experts.

Under the current process, independent nuclear experts, such as David Lochbaum (Union of Concerned Scientists) and Arnie Gundersen (Fairewinds Associates) cannot fully participate in the process.  See David Lochbaum’s 10/12/2012 Letter to the NRC regarding concerns with Edison’s inadequate restart proposal.  As of the date of this post, he has not received a detailed response to his letter.  See also steam generator reports by Arnie Gundersen and others on the Handouts section of this website.

Posted in Friends of the Earth, NRC, nuclear power, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

11/08/2012 NRC hears FOE petition and stay request for San Onofre nuclear reactors

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Donna Gilmore

At 9:00 a.m. EST on November 8th, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) heard Friends of the Earth’s petition demanding the NRC require Southern California Edison to submit its San Onofre steam generator design to a license amendment process, which would allow for a public hearing with expert testimony regarding the safety of the reactors before an impartial judge.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) also submitted a request for a stay, which would prevent either reactor from being restarted until the license amendment process is complete and until and unless public safety is assured.

Click here to watch video of of their decision on Affirmation Session Southern California Edison Co. (San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station), Docket Nos. 50-361 and 50-362-CAL, Petition to Intervene, Request for Hearing, and Stay Application (June 18, 2012).

Click here for link to the Commission’s written order.

Friends of the Earth statement:

Friends of the Earth logo

After months of delay, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be voting tomorrow morning on a petition Friends of the Earth filed regarding the crippled San Onofre reactors.

If the Commission votes in favor of our petition, the public and independent nuclear experts will be allowed a meaningful role in the decision to restart or repair the damaged reactors at San Onofre. Or the Commission could decide to allow the same entities who caused the problems — San Onofre operator Southern California Edison and NRC Region IV staff — to continue to make these decisions behind closed doors.

You can watch the hearing online tomorrow in real-time, starting at 6 a.m. PST/9 a.m. EST. Click through to get the livestream.

The San Onofre reactors have remained offline since January when a radioactive leak in one of the newly replaced steam generators caused an emergency shut down. Subsequent inspections revealed unprecedented and pervasive wear in both reactors and Friends of the Earth has managed to keep pressure on Edison to keep them shut down.

Restarting the reactors could put 8.4 million Southern Californians at risk from a massive release of radiation in the event of an accident.

That’s why this vote is so important. It will determine if the NRC is committed to openness and transparency or if it’s just business as usual. Join us and watch in real time tomorrow at 6 a.m. PST/9 a.m. EST.

Our petition demanded that the NRC require Edison to submit its steam generator design to a license amendment process, which would allow for a public hearing with expert testimony regarding the safety of the reactors before an impartial judge. We also submitted a request for a stay, which would prevent either reactor from being restarted until the license amendment process is complete and until and unless public safety is assured.

The decision that the NRC Commissioners will make tomorrow will have a significant impact on whether the public will have meaningful role in decisions to restart or repair San Onofre. We’ll be coming back to you with our next steps once the vote takes place.

Best,
Kendra Ulrich
Nuclear campaigner, Friends of the Earth

Posted in Action Alert, Events, Friends of the Earth, NRC, nuclear power, Southern California Edison, Steam Generator, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment