San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (aka...
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San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (aka "SONGS") is currently at or near the bottom of the heap of well-run nuke plants -- that is, it's not well run at all! The first speaker at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing in this clip is a licensed nuclear reactor operator describing the ongoing lack of a "culture of safety" at the local nuclear power plant. The second speaker is Ace Hoffman, a local resident. Many of the plant's problems have been ongoing for many years, and even the NRC has been aware of them for some time now. However, nothing the reactor owners, operators, or regulators have been able to do so far has fixed the "culture of cover-up" (and culture of CYA) that pervades the plant and in fact, by many metrics, the problems just keep getting worse (even by many of the NRC's own metrics). Meanwhile, a billion-dollar upgrade to Unit III is being started, the land where Unit I was is being turning into a radioactive graveyard for nuclear reactor cores, and numerous critical parts will be replaced with "new" parts made in Japan and around the world, of unknown quality. The new steam generators, for example, are EXPECTED to start leaking within just a few years, and will have to plugged up one tube at a time, and each leak will release tritium and other radioactive poisons into the environment... just another day at a nuke plant.
This video clip was recorded at Dana Point, California by the second speaker and his crew.
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