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 Can We Trust Edison To Keep Us Safe?

By Rita Conn
By Rita Conn

“One of the most hazardous materials made by man is spent nuclear fuel.” Physicians for Social Responsibility

If Edison has its way, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) site will become a nuclear waste dump. We must not let this happen!

Let Laguna Vote and our new subsidiary, Secure Nuclear Waste, went to Washington, D.C., on March 5 to propose a possible fix: creating a California interim solution on an isolated, sparsely populated California military base that has an enforced no-fly zone. This would allow radioactive spent fuel to be safely guarded against the growing threat of nuclear terrorism.

We met with the staff of our California senators as well as that of Senate Minority leader Harry Reed’s of Nevada. An important alliance was made with the Nevada leader’s staff; they showed great enthusiasm for our idea of a temporary solution

for California-only nuclear waste. There are 33 states holding nuclear waste in dangerously overcrowded nuclear spent fuel pools. State to state interim locations could give the federal government the time it needs to find scientifically suitable sites for a national repository solution other than the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada which never opened.

Reed’s staff described the state’s 30-year successful campaign to keep Nevada from becoming a national nuclear waste dump. They talked to us about the importance of getting our California government to join the battle to keep California’s densely populated areas free of dangerous nuclear spent fuel.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz used the term “military solution” while addressing a bipartisan commission on America’s Nuclear Future on March 24. It was in reference to military waste. How much of a stretch would it be for the phrase to also apply to commercial waste? Once a phase begins to be used in language it takes on a life of its own.

Edison plans to bury San Onofre’s spent fuel using the Holtec underground dry storage system. They admit it is an experiment. It has never been used before, anywhere. Other

experimental underground systems have failed, releasing radiation into the atmosphere and ground water, such as the Feb. 5 and Feb 11, 2014, accidents that occurred at the

Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, in Carlsbad, N.M.

Federal nuclear regulations require waste storage systems be above ground for easy transport. The Holtec system is below ground; the company has not developed transportation casks. It has no means to inspect for cracks, which could lead to large

releases of radiation if not repaired.  It has even more problems: its canisters would be buried in cement monoliths in the damp ground of an ocean location. Concrete and dampness don’t do well together; cement degradation occurs affecting the stability of the

structure.  In short, we would be stuck with the most hazardous materials made by man indefinitely.

Dry cask storage systems were not designed to resist terrorist attack, according to Title X, part 72, of the NRC regulations. Even with its reactors shutdown, San Onofre remains vulnerable to nuclear terrorism by land, air and sea.

Holtec president Dr. Kris Singh said at a community engagement panel in San Juan Capistrano last Oct. 14 that it is not feasible to repair these thin steel canisters.  He also stated that even a microscopic crack will release millions of curies of radiation into the environment. The NRC and their concrete experts state the concrete bases of underground storage systems are at higher risk of failure due to moisture and soil chemistry and are not  possible to inspect.

Holtec did not get a clean bill of health from Oscar Shirani, the lead quality assurance inspector for Exelon, the largest U.S. nuclear utility. Shirani never signed off on an Exelon audit and alleged his signature was forged during an NRC hearing in Chicago in July 2003.

His allegations against Holtec casks are significant. They include major design and fabrication issues that undermine the structural integrity of the Holtec casks. They are unreliable and violate the engineering codes of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American National Standards Institute and NRC regulations.

Even more alarming is the comment of Ross Landsman, an NRC dry cask inspector in Chicago, who refused to go along with the NRC’s disregard for Shirani’s concerns. “This same kind of thinking led to NASA’s space shuttle disaster,” Landsman said on WTTW Channel 11 on Jan. 29, 2004. “Holtec, as far as I am concerned, has a non-effective quality assurance program,” Landsman said.

Shirani went the way of most brave whistleblowers. He paid dearly for his refusal to simply keep quiet about Holtec’s quality assurance violations. He was blacklisted and will never work again in the nuclear industry.

So once again Edison, the NRC and some members of Congress put our lives and the lives of our families in danger. Profits over safety seems to be their motto. Isn’t it time they be held accountable? Can we do something about it? You bet we can. Join us for the informative presentation of “Don’t Fukushima With Us”, Monday, April 27, at the Unitarian Fellowship, 429

Cypress St., Laguna Beach.

For more info visit www.SecureNuclearWate.com and sign our petition, Tell Edison No!

 

Resident Rita Conn chairs Let Laguna Vote and its subsidiary, Secure Nuclear Waste.

 

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