California Celebrates Closure of Dangerous 
San Onofre Nuclear Power Generators
SoCal Edison resolved to decommission the two remaining faulty reactor units

PictureActivists and organizers for nuke-free Southern California celebrate outside of the San Onofre nuclear power plant's gate. Photo by EON/Laurent Malaquais




by Mary Bath Brangan

Anti-nuclear activists were jubilant at the June 7 announcement by Southern California Edison to permanently close its San Onofre Generating Station in San Clemente, California.  The nuclear station, situated within fifty miles of over 8.7 million people, sits between Los Angeles and San Diego on a Pacific beach only 13 feet above high tide, and like Fukushima, near multiple earthquake faults in a tsunami zone.

The plant had been forced to shut down in January of last year because of a radiation leak caused by faulty new steam generators that operated for less than two years before eroding beyond repair.  Despite the severe problems, Southern California Edison intended to restart the ailing reactors until the surprising June 7 announcement.

Gary Headrick, of San Clemente Greens, a leader in the efforts by local residents to close the reactors, said the closure news was as emotional a moment as the birth of his two children. “The joy and the relief is comparable to something that big in my life, to know that 8 million people will be safe now from this supposed restart. It’s incredible to think what was at stake and how incredibly important today is, not just for San Onofre, but for Diablo Canyon and other nuclear power plants around the world that have this old technology.”

Carol Jahnkow of San Diego’s Peace Resource Center called the closure a direct result of activists’ work “This is a real victory for people power, and don’t anybody forget that,” she said.     

US Senator Barbara Boxer said she was “greatly relieved that the San Onofre nuclear plant will be closed permanently… This nuclear plant had a defective redesign and could no longer operate as intended.”

San Onofre is one of five nuclear reactor stations closed  this year from — as energy expert Amory Lovins puts it, "an overdose of market forces," despite nuclear industry 'renaissance' hopes.

Now activists will focus on the issue of the tons of radioactive waste still stored at San Onofre and on the push to close the remaining California nuclear plant at Diablo Canyon. One down and one to go!  
More Information:
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Sanonofresafety.org

Posted Jan 2014

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