By Roger Johnson, San Clemente
Congratulations to Jim Kempton for pointing out, in the Oct. 19-25 edition of the San Clemente Times, the most critical issue facing Orange County: the current plan to store large quantities of uranium and plutonium a few miles from here for the indefinite future. He is right that both the public and the decision-makers are minimally informed. He is also correct that Southern California Edison has been distributing inaccurate and incomplete information and appears to be engaged in an effort to trivialize the dangers of possible radioactive fallout over large areas.
I attended what was advertised as a “Fun Emergency Preparedness Fair” in San Clemente on Oct 21. I also attended a much larger event on the same day on “Disaster Preparedness” sponsored by Orange County and the city of Mission Viejo. Both events focused only on conventional emergencies such as fires and earthquakes. All the tents and exhibits and all the literature distributed contained not one word about a radiological emergency. The emergency preparedness people I spoke to appeared to be uninformed and unprepared for radioactive fallout. The “Ready OC” brochure carefully lists every possible emergency except what is now the most dangerous and most likely disaster. The “Alert OC: Stay Informed” document is uninformative, misleading and appears to rely on Edison public relations. It suggests that we should not worry because “even our bodies give off small amounts of radiation.”
There is only one way that zip code 92672 will not become a nuclear waste dump, and that is massive public opposition. So far, that is not happening. Kempton is correct in stating that everyone is in the dark. Perhaps that is the master plan for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear industry: cultivate a public that is compliant, complacent and uninformed. The plan seems to be working.
There is so much more to share than the space that is given to those of us who are only allowed to write letters to the editor. Hopefully someday, our views will be given the same amount of coverage in the press that Edison enjoys. Here is the latest newsletter on this topic, which will have to suffice for now.
http://conta.cc/2xUtf19
@ Gary Headrick
“There is so much more to share than the space that is given to those of us…”
There is only so many lies the public can take from you and the rest of your manure shovelers. Try something novel, using the space for good recognizing that both SCE and the anti-nukes both want to move the used fuel out ASAP (at least that is what you claim, your actions say otherwise).
“Hopefully someday, our views will be given the same amount of coverage in the press…”
You’ve been given far more press coverage than your lies, false claims, and dishonesty deserves. Why not be part of the solution instead of your consistent, adversarial stance?
BTW, your news letter is crap, full of inaccurate and false claims but then, you knew that, right?
@ Roger “truck bomb” Johnson
“He is right that both the public and the decision-makers are minimally informed.”
You have been informed Roger, you just choose to ignore fact based documentation in favor of the lies and false information you help spread like fertilizer.
I saw that at the Sept. 2017 CEP meeting you were again peddling your canard about “secret” radioactive releases of impossible amounts despite my having informed you that SONGs doesn’t have the storage capacity for “millions of gallons” (or was it tens of millions, I’m going by memory) of waste. That’s the trouble with activists, they often ignore or tune out what doesn’t comport with their preconceived notions, a description that fits you to a T.
Do you still believe North Korea has nuclear missiles aimed at San Onofre as you claimed at the very first CEP?
Do you still believe a truck bomb from “outside the perimeter” could take out the Spent Fuel Pool despite there being around 90 feet of elevation difference and many, many feet of concrete and steel?
Will you be informing your readers just what this “inaccurate and incomplete information” is you claim Edison is distributing? And exactly how is radioactive fallout supposed to fall over large areas? Please describe for your readers this magical mechanism, don’t leave them with simple hand waving generalities.
“Perhaps that is the master plan for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear industry: cultivate a public that is compliant, complacent and uninformed.”
Yeah, that’s why they implemented the CEP and allowed an acknowledged anti-nuke on the panel and the activists to bring in their own, so-called, “expert”. That’s why they provided a platform for purveyors of anti-nuclear baloney to lie, make false claims, and/or asinine comments while ignoring the conclusions of a host of experts on the relevant issues. Want to know why some are ill informed? Look in the mirror.