More Scandals Rock Southern California Nuke Plant San Onofre (tags)
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our August 2018 report. More Scandals Rock San Onofre The eighth month of the year saw additional scandals erupt at Southern California's San Onofre nuclear plant, which has been shut down since 2013. Another potentially catastrophic accident occurred, a previously unknown whistleblower spoke out, and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is sending a special inspection team to try to sort out this whole mess. San Onofre's majority owner Southern California Edison shut the plant down prematurely after a scandal involving corporate mismanagement that caused a radioactive leak, and environmentalists exposed the utility's rush to restart the plant at the expense of the public's health and safety. Since the permanent shutdown Edison has begun what's called decommissioning, meaning dismantlement and decontamination of the nuclear plant .A key task in this process is dealing with the nuclear waste left over . This is called spent nuclear fuel, stored in San Onofre's nuclear reactors as well as in pools where it must be constantly cooled or else there could be a serious accident, in the worst case leading to a meltdown. This highly radioactive waste remains lethal to all life for a very long time. The federal government was supposed to take responsibility for for the megatons of spent nuclear fuel (3.55 million tons in San Onofre's case) for the whole nation by 1980, but still hasn't . Edison chose to do the job by having the spent fuel removed from the plant and transferred to what is called dry storage, in canisters that are then buried on site for who knows how long. To carry out this task Edison hired Holtec International of Camden, New Jersey. Work began this past February, then stopped--but for only 10 days--after a cask lost a part while being lowered into the burial site in March. The burial site is only 100 feet from the Pacific Ocean, protected by just a 28 foot seawall. August Is the Cruellist Month--So Far On August 10th the San Diego Union Tribune reported on "an incident" during which another spent fuel cask had become stuck on August 4th while being maneuvered down to the bottom of the nuke dump. Specifically, the cask was wedged 18 feet above the bottom, and remained there for "45 minutes to an hour" according to the NRC. The next day, August 4th, a whistleblower revealed himself at a public meeting about San Onofre's decommissioning, the same U-T article reported. He identified himself as David Fritch, and said he was employed with the federal Occupational and Safety Administration (OSHA) and had been working at San Onofre for three months. Fritch said he attended the meeting "to see if any of Edison's reps would discuss the 8-3 incident," but when none did he decided to report that the canister in question "could have fallen 18 feet." In a followup Union Tribune report on August 24th Fritch alleged that only "about a quarter inch" wedge prevented the canister from falling before it was finally repositioned and safely lowered. In the earlier U-T report Fritch also said some workers with Holtec "are undertrained" and many experienced supervisors are often sent away and replaced by new supervisors "who don't understand it as well." The 8-24 Union Tribune report said an NRC inspection team "will send a team to evaluate the incident, will come on September 10 and spend a week." The incident "confirms every fear we've had about what's going on at San Onofre and what measurges they're taking to ensure the public's safety," Charles Langley of theSan Diego Public Watchdogs told the the Union Tribune on August 10. He also expressed concerns that the spent fuel casks are not thick enough and could crack. In light of all the above, Edison put the cask transfer operations "on pause." Source: San Diego Union Tribune, uniontribune.com Holtec's Master Plan Given Holtec's troublesome performance at San Onofre, you might think the company would be curtailing its activities in other places. Unfortunately this is not the case. Earlier this year Nuclear Shutdown News detailed its plan to build a nuke dump in Arizona for the nation's spent fuel still sitting around the increasing number of shutting down and already closed nuclear plants. An application to do so has been filed with the NRC. The most likely means of transporting the high level radioactive waste would likely be by rail. But Holtec has also been removing spent fuel from shutdown nukes and storing it on site, most recently at Vermont Yankee, which closed in 2014. Holtec appears to be privatizing the job of dealing with the nuke industry's high level radioactive waste and turning it into its own growth industry , after the job was abdicated by the federal government since 1980, as noted above. On August 1 Utility Drive reported a new Holtec scheme to turn a profit this way in its article "Holtec to buy three nuclear plants, greatly accelerate decommissioning." The three nuclear plants, all shutting down in the near future, are Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Pilgrim in Massachusetts, and Palisades in Michigan. Holtec and its partner Comprehensive Decommissioning International, said they would dismantle and decontaminate the three nuke plants in eight years, though they have up to 60 years to do so. The same plan applies to Vermont Yankee. In that state the Conservation Law Foundation warned, "In the rush to secure a possible--and by no means certain--quick cleanup of the site, the settlement excludes reasonable protection for Vermont communities. The Utility Drive report did not explain why Holtec is buying the three nukes, or for how much, But a report by WBUR radio in Boston on August 2 said that in the Pilgrim deal "Holtec will get $1 billion paid by Massachusetts ratepayers into a decommissioning trust fund." Sources: Utility Drive, utility drive.com; WBUR, wbur.org. During August more Scandals Rocked the Southern California nuclear plant San Onofre, resulting in an upcoming federal investigation.
Nuclear Shutdown News March 2018 (tags)
The San Onofre nuclear power plant in SoCal shut down in 2012. But it's still causing a lot of trouble.
Nuclear Shutdown News November 2017 (tags)
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those who are working for a nuclear free world. Here is our November 2017 report:
Nuclear Shutdown News: April 2017 (tags)
NUCLEAR SHUTDOWN NEWS—APRIL 2015 (tags)
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the continuing decline of the US nuclear power industry, and highlights the efforts of those who are creating a better energy future. Here’s the April edition:
Sexual Offense in California (tags)
Yet, somehow the attitude for some citizens thus goes, after more legislation has been proposed, and in process of being enacted (Assembly Bill 1844 Chelsea’s Law), in California following the recent rape and killings by one John Gardener, a sexual offender released from prison and not very closely and competently monitored by the system, is that everyone, that is everyone thought to be a “good” citizen of the state of California, ought be able to live in a Utopian world in which “no one” feels offended—especially sexually offended—and this idealism should reside no matter how arbitrary and contradictory the propensity to feel offended may seem.
George Carlin Dead: Diet Coke with Aspartame and Cardiac Death (tags)
Another celebrity bites the dust - Diet Coke with aspartame and cardiac death. How many more will die because FDA has refused to ban it even though they originally revoked the petition for approval.
Blackwater ‘Fire Relief’ a PR Campaign to Win Hearts and Minds, Timed Influence Voters (tags)
s Blackwater ‘Fire Relief’ Part of Larger PR Campaign to Win Hearts and Minds and Timed to Influence Local Voters? Potrero Residents/Fire Victims Speak-Out in Wake of Up Coming Recall Election - Referendum Could Put End to Blackwater West Project– Deadline to Mail Ballots to Voters in Just Two Weeks Conflict of Interest Questions Raised as Mercenary VP Allowed Through Sheriff’s Blockade With Supplies While Community-Based Relief Efforts for Potrero and Immigrant Residents of Surrounding Area Were Thwarted or Delayed
As Opposition to 'Blackwater West' Grows, Author of Bestseller Blackwater Tours CA (tags)
As Local Residents and Their Congressman Move to Block Plans for ‘Blackwater West’ in California, Jeremy Scahill Author of NY Times Bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army Launches Book Tour Across State April 26th – May 5th
Hypocrisy at the Union-Tribune (tags)
The hounds at said paper, in their seemingly santimonious, blue nose, Puritanal zeal, apparently feel there is something particularly egregious about a sex scandal that denies the claustrophobic mores of the Judeo-Christian church. Who is it that really gives much of a rip whether strippers and nightclub owners make more money off sexually starved “adults” that “voluntarily” frequent such places?
Join The SECOND Virtual Sit-In Against The MinuteMen (tags)
Join the SwarmTheMinuteMen.com and Electronic Disturbance Theater Virtual Sit-In Against Anti-Immigrant Websites, from Tuesday July 20th -Thursday, July 22nd To join, click here: http://www.thing.net/~rdom/ecd/ecd.html
Goldsborough’s column Outstanding. (tags)
James Goldsborough columns outstanding. Beat all big shot East Coast pundits hands down. Corporate Media full of cowards and puppets. Corporate opinion pages dubiously slanted.
Captain Ward Boston Blows Lid off USS Liberty Cover-up (tags)
Ward Boston is right about Liberty attack
USS Liberty Attack Cover-up/San Diego Union Tribune Article on Captain Ward Boston (tags)
USS Liberty Attack Cover-up
Peter Camejo Needs Support, Write/call League of Women Voters to Be Included in Debate (tags)
Green candidate calls on League of Women Voters members to protest their organization's efforts to exclude the Green Party from gubernatorial debates. Camejo campaign will launch national web-based letter writing campaign from http://www.votecamejo.org targeting media outlets and League of Women Voters.
Will Your Vote Be Counted in 2004? (tags)
It does not matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green or Libertarian. Voting and how your vote is counted in the next election may not be to your liking.
ACLU Calls Immigrant Registration Program Pretext for Mass Detentions (tags)
By January 10, 2003, citizens of 13 additional countries – Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen – must also submit to registration, a move that could push the detentions into the tens of thousands, the ACLU said.
Union Workers and Supporters Rally at San Diego Union Tribune (tags)
300 plus people gathered in front of the San Diego Union Tribune to rally in support of Union Workers who have been involved in a nine-year struggle with the paper for a decent contract. the paper has responded with dirty tactics and typical union busting techniques.
Delete Duplicates from SD Union Tribune (tags)
There have been at least 5 or more postings from the San Diego Union Tribune glorifing police and most of these are repetitive. Not only are duplicates out of order but it is my understanding that Independent Media is for original news, not reprints from the capitalist press.