The Coast News, January 18, 2019

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VOL. 33, N0. 3

JAN. 18, 2019

Nuclear site ‘fatally flawed’ com SAN MARCOS -NEWS

Carlsbad Chamber’ s . CEO retires

By Samantha Taylor

REGION — Nuclear waste storage facilities at the decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are “fatally flawed” and could cost Southern California nearly $13.4 trillion over a 50-year period if a major release of radiation occurs, according to two reports recently published by the Samuel Lawrence Foundation. The reports were published during an ongoing Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation into electric supply company Southern California Edison and its contractor, Holtec International, which designed and built the storage facility. The investigation stems from an incident on Aug. 3, 2018, when a full canister of spent nuclear fuel came within a quarter-inch of falling 18 feet. Edison’s plan is to move 73 canisters into the oceanfront storage vault, having already moved 29 by the reports’ publication. After the August incident, regulators stopped any more canisters from being loaded into the vault, built to hold 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste at the San Onofre site, located on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton on the coastal side of I-5. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) began operating in 1968 and closed in 2012 after continuous leaks were discovered in the plant’s steam generator tubes. The first report, titled “San Onofre Nuclear Waste Problems,” examines damage caused to the “thinwalled, steel” canisters as

By Steve Puterski

munity engagement panel discussing the decommissioning of San Onofre, Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector David Fritch told attendees about a near-accident at the storage facility. When workers using a crane were moving a canister containing spent nuclear fuel, it became lodged at the top of the cavity enclosure container into which it was being stored. Investigations revealed

CARLSBADTHE — A dedicated and decorated career cameVISTA to a ceremonious close on Jan. 8. NEWS Ted Owen, former chief operating officer of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, was honored and celebrated by nearly 250 of the city’s leaders, residents , friends, RANCHO family and b u s iSFNEWS ness community Owen members during a luncheon at The Westin Carlsbad. Owen, 77, came to the chamber 15 years ago from the San Diego Business Journal and built the chamber into one of the biggest and most successful in San Diego County and the state. Growth and membership exploded over the course of his tenure, as it has become the second largest in the county and 10th biggest in the state with about 1,300 members. Bret Schanzenbach was named the new CEO after holding the same position in the Vista Chamber of Commerce since 2009. Owen spun yarns about his career and life in the military, where he served in Vietnam. He told several jokes, inducing big laughs, and broke down thanking his wife of 53 years, Cathy, of whom

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SAN ONOFRE Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) began operating in 1968 and closed in 2012 after continuous leaks were discovered in the plant’s steam generator tubes. Courtesy photo

they are lowered into the dry storage vaults. The report refers to this damage as “gouging” and considers it the most serious of the issues facing the storage facility. The report notes how storage tanks at gas stations in California must be double-walled after experiencing how single-walled containers can leak gasoline into groundwater. “With a double-walled fuel tank, if a leak occurs it can be detected and the storage container can be

I find that virtually none of the protocols that should be expected for the safe handling of this dangerous material are present.” retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Len Hering Sr. on conditions at San Onofre nuclear site repaired or replaced before any gasoline is released,” the report states. “At San Onofre, we certainly should expect that some kind of

leak prevention system would be in place to contain extremely toxic high-level radioactive waste.” At an Aug. 9, 2018, com-

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