COALITION TO DECOMMISSION SAN ONOFRE is working on our behalf.
Three months ago, civic and environmental activists won a huge victory in shutting down the San Onofre nuclear plant near San Clemente, California. It may seem that all is now quiet in San Onofre land, but that is not the case. Yes, we are safer since the plant has been retired – but we are not safe.
The Coalition to Decommission San Onofre (CDSO) has been startled by the enormous challenge of managing radioactive nuclear waste at the plant. The issues include: unusually potent forms of fuel, dense storage of spent fuel far beyond design limits, large uncertainties about where the waste will ultimately be stored and for how long, and last but not least, the economics of decommissioning. These issues were below the radar during the shutdown debate, but they now loom large.
The Coalition has secured the involvement of top-rated nuclear waste specialists to provide crucial details about the current situation at San Onofre and other U.S. nuclear power plants.
Arjun Makhijani is an expert on HOSS (Hardened On Site Storage) and long-term high-level waste management issues. Marvin Resnikoff has worked on nuclear waste issues with government, industry, and activists for decades.
Our immediate goal in securing this expertise is to assure that best practices will be applied to minimize the risk for those who must live with San Onofre as a nuclear waste dump. Our ultimate goal is to reinvigorate America’s national dialog on radioactive nuclear waste.
The Coalition is equally active on economic issues. Since January 2013, we have been a formal Party to the California Public Utilities Commission investigations regarding who will pay for the defective plant, and what costs will be authorized for reimbursement from the Decommissioning Fund. Much is at stake. Will the $3.4 billion in the Fund be used solely to cover crucial tasks? Will utility customers be protected from unjustified future charges?
Representing the Coalition on behalf of Southern California ratepayers are Martha Sullivan, with 20 years’ experience as a CPUC staffer, and engineer Ray Lutz, CEO of Citizens Oversight, Inc. They have formal standing as interveners along with other ratepayer advocates during four upcoming multi-year phases.
Responses received from our panel of experts, in video and written form, will serve to better inform public participation at upcoming hearings and public meetings of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). They will also provide program content for briefings and seminars held by the Coalition, with an invitation to other groups around the country to use these presentations at their own events.
We need your help in this public awareness and involvement campaign!
There is an urgent need for contributions to support expert research on the crucial facts and realities of radioactive waste, and to cover the costs of our ratepayer advocates’ presence on the scene at extensive upcoming hearings.
The basic cost is $8,500 to secure the best information and to hold the Nuclear Waste Symposium in San Clemente, along with the video copy that can be sent around the nation and world to help shut down more nuclear power plants. An additional $3,000 is required to cover the necessary expenses of ratepayer advocates. We have already received $4153 toward the symposium and $400 toward ratepayer advocates. To make your tax deductible donation use one of the methods below.
To support these efforts, please send a check made out to the “Coalition to Decommission San Onofre”, lower left memo “Nuclear Waste Symposium” or CPUC actions, c/o Gene Stone, 1203 Via Presa San Clemente, CA 92672.
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We hope the potential value of this information and outreach initiative will encourage you and/or your organization to become a funding partner. Your investment will help assure a higher level of public awareness about crucial facts, and will increase the likelihood that best practices are applied to deal with the continuing threat to the environment, land use and public health created by the nuclear waste challenge.
Our thanks for your attention to this appeal.
Contact information:
Gene Stone 949-233-7724 genston@sbcglobal.net
Martha Sullivan 858-945-6273 marthasullivan@gmail.com
Glenn Pascall 949-248-3183 gpascall@sbcglobal.net
