San Diego Billboard Questions Safety at San Onofre Nuclear

May 13, 2013 - PRLog -- A strange billboard has suddenly appeared on the freeways of San Diego that has catalyzed enormous attention.  “San Diego, do you really want  your nuclear reactor back on?” has generated huge web response for SanOnofreSafety.org, a coalition concerned with the failed steam generator and absence of public safety at the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

The billboard has sparked a wave of discussion over Southern California with Edison’s failure to provide any evacuation. Currently,  there is no safe emergency plan. “Over 8.4 million people living in a 50 mile radius need to evacuate if there is an emergency at San Onofre,” says a father and urban planner, Torgen Johnson, spokesperson with SanOnofreSafety.org. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) code does not require a current safe emergency plan for license renewal of San Onofre (NRC Reg. 50.47) and southern California.

San Onofre has the highest number of safety violations of all 104 nuclear reactors in the US, and  highest retaliation to whistleblower complaints compared to all other U.S. nuclear power plants, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) data. On April 30, 2013, ABC 10 News published a shocking photograph that shows a leaky pipe being held together with masking tape, plastic bags and broom handles.

The NRC says San Onofre continues to have serious safety culture problems, including poor management decision making, and employees reluctant to report safety problems for fear of retaliation from their management.

The Fukushima catastrophe brings heightened awareness to concern for nuclear power and safety. In January 2012, the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California was closed due to the discovery of a radiation leaks and other damaged components. It has now been over a year, and Southern California Edison (SCE) has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart the damaged plant.