San Onofre Nuclear Waste

Ever since the shut down of the San Onofre nuclear plant in  2012 due to a leak, those in charge have been looking for a storage facility for the waste.  Here we are, five years later, and really no closer to an answer.  How could those in charge ever think that building a nuclear power plant just a few feet from the Pacific Ocean, and a few feet from the 5 freeway, one of the busiest freeways in the country, and just a few miles from over 8 million people that live in Southern California, could ever be a good idea?  Oh, I forgot to mention that the nuclear plant is near a 7.4 magnitude fault

I went to a meeting at Ocean Hills recently, where one of the founders of Citizens' Oversight spoke.  He is an advocate for public involvement in this, and other important non political issues.  Citizens' Oversight has filed a lawsuit and are now in settlement negotiations.  Public outcry is essential.  But, even if they win their lawsuit, what are they going to do with the nuclear waste.

Citizens' Oversight's argument is that we are allowing for-profit corporations (Southern California Edison) to decide what to do.  The Ca Coastal Commission (CCC) was only 90 minutes and allowed opponents only two minutes each to make their case.  To top it off, most of the CCC commissioners had improper private meetings with the applicant, Southern California Edison.  This is just wrong.

The high level waste from San Onofre will be around for between 250,000-9million years.  It's not going away!  We've got to find a way to dispose of it, but who wants it?  There are locations in both Arizona and New Mexico that could store the waste, but transporting it there would be a daunting task.

I urge you to read more about the San Onofre waste problem.  It affects us all.  If you are so inclined, check out citizens oversight.org and see what this public advocacy group is doing.  You may even choose to get involved in this important matter.