March, 11 2013, 04:38pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Damon Moglen, (202) 222-0708
Bill Walker, (510) 759-9911
San Onofre: Nuclear Watchdog Files Request for More Documents on Design of Flawed Steam Generators
Friends of the Earth petitions PUC to speed probe into Edison's responsibility
SAN FRANCISCO
Friends of the Earth filed a request today for Southern California Edison to release documents expected to further confirm that the utility knew about worrying design problems with the defective replacement steam generators in the San Onofre nuclear reactors but chose not to make changes that might have mitigated the problems. The group also filed a motion asking the California Public Utilities Commission to speed its investigation into Edison's responsibility for the steam generator failure, which would be a decisive factor in deciding whether Edison can pass on to customers the cost of the defective equipment and the reactors' shutdown.
The request comes on the heels of the release last week of a bombshell report from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries showing that a joint Edison/MHI design team knew as early as 2005 of problems concerning the replacement steam generators, but chose not to make safety changes out of concern that they would trigger a rigorous, public license amendment proceeding before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Today Friends of the Earth requested that Edison provide the PUC with, and publicly release, all records of the design team's work and deliberations. The group believes the records will provide further details confirming Edison's ultimate responsibility for the steam generators' failure, which has kept the reactors closed since January 2012.
In a separate filing, Friends of the Earth, joined by the World Business Academy, asked the PUC to expedite the aspect of its investigation into San Onofre that will assess responsibility for the steam generators failure -- an issue that will otherwise be delayed till later in the year. The motion reads in part:
The MHI Report appears to provide decisive evidence that the Southern California Edison Company ("SCE") was imprudent in the design of the [steam generator] tubes, the failure of which has resulted in the shutdown of the San Onofre power plant. However, the costs of this plant remain in the rates that consumers are paying, and consumers remain potentially responsible for massive repair costs that would be incurred if SCE ultimately seeks to restart the whole plant.
The dramatic new information revealed by . . . the MHI Report calls out for the Commission to address these key questions sooner rather than later. What is at stake in this case goes to the essence of the Commission's responsibility to protect the rate-paying consumer. The existing rates that SCE's customers are paying for the closed plant, even if eventually refunded, constitute an involuntary loan at low interest to SCE.
"The MHI report appears to squarely place the cause of and responsibility for the outages at San Onofre at Edison's feet," said S. David Freeman, former head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and a senior advisor to Friends of the Earth. "It's urgent that the Public Utilities Commission prioritize this phase of the investigation, and the additional documents we've requested from Edison are important to answering these questions."
Rinaldo S. Brutoco, president of the World Business Academy, said that California ratepayers should not be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for Southern California Edison's faulty steam generators. Brutoco said: "The Academy, which believes that companies can generate profits while being good corporate citizens, concludes that Edison's actions, in circumventing federal nuclear safety regulations and playing radioactive Russian roulette with the health of Californians, represent an unscrupulous way of doing business."
Friends of the Earth requested the Edison documents in its capacity as an official intervener in the PUC investigation. Edison must respond within 10 working days, and its responses must be posted on a website that the PUC has required Edison to set up in order to provide easy public access to the documents in this proceeding.
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
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Marilyn Lands, a Democratic candidate for a state House seat in Alabama, won a special election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Teddy Powell.
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"Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation. Our legislature must repeal Alabama's no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception," Lands said in a statement.
Congrats to my friend Marilyn Lands on her resounding victory in the Alabama House District 10 special election. She campaigned on women’s reproductive freedom and pushing back on the culture wars being waged by AL Republicans. This is a big win for a better, stronger Alabama.…
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Sheline is just the latest official to resign in protest of Biden's approach to Israel and Gaza.
In October Josh Paul resigned from his position as director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, where he oversaw weapons transfers to U.S. allies.
Paul told the Post that Sheline's decision "speaks volumes about the Biden administration's disregard for the laws, policies and basic humanity of American foreign policy that the bureau exists to advance."
A policy adviser in the Education Department, Tariq Habash, also stepped down from his role in January, saying he could no longer be "quietly complicit" in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The State Department's internal dissent channel has also been used by numerous officials to voice outrage over the Biden administration's continued defense of Israel's actions.
Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, called Sheline's resignation "courageous."
Feds United for Peace, a group of government workers across nearly two dozen federal agencies which organized a daylong fast in January to protest the U.S.-backed slaughter of Palestinians, expressed solidarity with Sheline.
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Overall, Gallup found that 55% of the American public—including 60% of Independents and 30% of Republicans—disapproves of Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip, up from 45% in November. Just 36% of the U.S. public approves, down from 50% four months ago.
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Observers
noted that Gallup's new poll was conducted after the Israeli military's February 29 massacre of Palestinians seeking food aid. Since October, according to one human rights monitor, Israeli forces have killed more than 560 people waiting for humanitarian aid, the delivery of which Israel's government has intentionally hindered—fueling the spread of famine across the territory.
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"Uncommitted" campaigns won 11 Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegates in Minnesota and two in both Michigan and Washington state.
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