Republished from Medium.com with permission by Scott Rhinehart, candidate for AD-73.

Half An Inch from Nuclear Waste

Did you know that only ⅝ of an inch of steel stands between your family and 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste?

That’s right, at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Southern California Edison (the plant’s operator) is in the process of burying 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear waste 100 feet from the Southern California coastline in canisters that are 0.625” thick and have a life expectancy of 20 years. This is not the Federal Government’s wasteland backyard; it is in San Onofre, CA just (click to see how many miles) from you.

It is imperative that residents of Southern Orange County unite to move this waste away from our communities and into a safer and long term solution. We opened a Pandora’s Box with nuclear power plants and generating stations. And worst of all, we do not fully understand all that could possibly go wrong. In the case of San Onofre, the federal government has no permanent repository for the 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste. It is simply buried in the sand just 100 feet from the Pacific Ocean. This deadly waste sits close to several earthquake fault lines in containers with a life expectancy of only 20 years. In other words, the old pair of shoes you have in your garage will last longer than the nuclear waste containers designed to save us from nuclear poison.

The dangers are real and the consequences are deadly. The Koeberg nuclear plant in South Africa used containers similar to those being used at SONGS and, according to a report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they began leaking after 17 years. The residents of Carlsbad, New Mexico were assured that the nuclear waste storage containers used at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant would be safe for 10,000 years. They started leaking radiation into the environment roughly 15 years into that 10,000 years span.

As your State Assemblymember, I will work tirelessly to protect us from a San Onofre nuclear leak. I will help organize and lead pressure from local, community, and civic groups upon the federal government to remove this waste. A permanent repository must be located, funded and developed. We cannot continue to kick-the-can of responsibility down the road to future generations.

I’m not sure what the structural value is of containers that are only ⅝ inches thick. But as a father, grandfather and resident of Orange County, nuclear waste buried on our beaches in ⅝ inch steel containers does not feel like enough protection. As your State Assemblymember, removing this waste will be a top priority for me.

Tuesday, June 5th, vote Scott Rhinehart for Assembly 2018

For more information visit scottfor73rd.com