From Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE)
April 29, 2017

ACTION ALERT: Your voice is needed.

The Coastal Commission is meeting for 3 days in San Diego May 10th, 11th and 12th. Please attend and request Southern California Edison (SCE) not be allowed to destroy the spent fuel pools. SCE will be submitting a request to destroy the spent fuel pools once they are empty.

San Onofre is not on the agenda. However, the Commission allows 3 minute public comments on items not on the agenda. Public Comments for non-agenda items start at the beginning of the meeting each day.

The pools are the only NRC approved method to replace cracking and leaking canisters. Canisters with even partial cracks are not approved for transport per NRC Safety regulations, and there is no method in place to repair them.

Existing San Onofre canisters have been in use as early as 2003. According to the NRC, the Koeberg nuclear plant in South Africa had a comparable container leak in only 17 years.

No one knows how many cracks are in the existing San Onofre canisters or how deep the cracks are. Once a crack starts, it will continue to grow through the wall of the canister.

Also, there is no seismic rating for partially cracked canisters or for the vented concrete structure they are stored in.

Since canisters cannot be inspected for cracks, we will only know after they leak, so pools must remain and be maintained until all nuclear fuel waste is removed from San Onofre. The Commissioners should not approve destruction of the pools until nuclear fuel waste is removed from the site.

Southern California Edison has been stating leaking canisters will be put inside another container, such as a metal transport or transfer cask. However, no such container has been approved by the NRC and leaking canisters cannot be transported. And the nuclear fuel waste in the canisters could overheat if stored in sealed metal casks. (Currently, canisters are stored inside concrete overpacks that have air vents so the nuclear fuel waste doesn’t overheat.)

Meeting details:

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chambers
1600 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92101
(415) 407-3211
[The phone number will only be in service during the meeting.]
Wednesday, May 10, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 11, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
Friday, May 12, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

Meeting Agenda and rules for public comment. https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/

California Coastal Commission ]https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/

 

Sincerely,

Gene Stone
Residents Organized For a Safe Environment (ROSE)
http://residentsorganizedforasafeenvironment.wordpress.com/ http://residentsorganizedforasafeenvironment.wordpress.com/ http://partofthearth.blogspot.com/
http://partofthearth.blogspot.com/
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates