Energy Technology

San Onofre Nuke Plant Could Permanently Close This Year

Southern California Edison (SCE), which operates the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), has apparently acknowledged for the first time that it may have no choice but to shutter the aging plant later this year. SCE is hoping that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will approve its ... More >>

[Update: NRC Gives Preliminary Approval] SCE Wants to Restart Troubled San Onofre Nuke Plant This June

*See next page for an update on new developments in this story.Original Post, April 9, 4:56 p.m.: For months, Southern California Edison has been desperately trying to find ways to restart the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The troubled nuke plant has been shut down for more than a year, eve ... More >>

[UPDATE: Hearing Scheduled, But Where?] SCE Scrambling For Ways to Turn On Troubled San Onofre Nuke Plant

*See end of post for an update.Original Post, March 22, 12:41 p.m.: For months, Southern California Edison has been trying to avoid having to go through a lengthy regulatory process that would force the company to prove that continued operation of the company's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station ... More >>

Ace Hoffman, Legendary Anti-Nukes Activist, on Our Ace Hoffman Cover Story This Week!

Our cover story this week, on legendary anti-nukes activist Ace Hoffman, has already generated mucho buzz and kind words. But it was very nice to get a letter from Hoffman himself.Of course, Hoffman being Hoffman, it wasn't just your usual gracias but a piece of art unto itself complete with stats, ... More >>

[BREAKING:] California Coastal Commission Denies PG&E Seismic Studies Off Central Coast

See the breaking news update at the end of this post on the Coastal Commission's denial of PG&E's seismic studies proposal and foe Surfrider's reaction.ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 13, 12:02 P.M.: As the Coastal Commission considers Pacific Gas & Electric's Fukushima-inspired plan to fire underwater ... More >>

San Onofre Nuclear Plant Closure Has Cost More Than $300 Million, Edison Investors Told

Southern California Edison overlord Edison International reports it has lost more than $300 million since its two reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station went down last winter.So far.

[BREAKING:] State PUC to Investigate San Onofre Nuclear Plant Woes

The California Public Utilities Commission, meeting at Irvine City Hall this morning, voted unanimously to investigate problems at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The results of that probe may effect the five-member panel's decision on whether Southern California Edison ratepayers ... More >>

San Onofre Nuclear Plant Restart Proposed

Southern California Edison (SCE) announced today that it has submitted a proposal to federal regulators to restart one of two mothballed reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The plan would have Unit 2 run at 70 percent power for five months, shut down again and re-inspected ... More >>

The Ettes

Alex's Bar

Orange County District Attorney Sues Companies Over Blast That Killed 2 Workers

Lissen up, Benjamin: unsafe working conditions at a plastics plant in Rancho Santa Margarita led to a 2009 explosion and the deaths of two workers, according to a civil suit filed by the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA). The complaint filed against Solus Industrial Innovations, LLC, E ... More >>

[UPDATED with Edison Objection to Weekly Report:] Design Flaws Confirmed at San Onofre Nuclear Plant

See update at end of post where Southern California Edison takes issue with the Weekly's original report earlier this morning.ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 19, 8:58 A.M.: Design flaws resulted in San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) generators being unable to handle too high a flow of radioactive wat ... More >>

It's Officially a Bummer Summer for San Onofre Nuclear Plant

Southern California Edison has officially confirmed what has been assumed for weeks: its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will not come back online this summer.The power giant is now looking at an August restart.

[UPDATED with "Industry Winning":] San Onofre Nuclear Plant Reopening Pushed Back as 1,300 More Damaged Tubes Found

UPDATE, MAY 21, 5:23 P.M.: The energy director of a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group calls Gregory Jaczko's resignation as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "a terrifying example of industries trying to wreak havoc on those who regulate them-and winning.""Jaczko sou ... More >>

[UPDATED with VIDEO:] That 70s Show: San Onofre No Nukes Rally Sunday

UPDATE, APRIL 30, 10:01 A.M.: About 100 people marched to the gate of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Sunday to demand the facility be shut down.They were led by Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, who said nuclear power is an unsafe option for communities surrounding such plants. Video from the ral ... More >>

[UPDATED with Radiation Report OK'd:] Water Leak Shuts Down San Onofre Nuke Unit

​UPDATE, FEB. 23, 10:01 A.M.: The San Clemente City Council is to receive a staff report March 20 that should help city leaders decide whether more radiation monitoring should be done in the town 2 miles from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).Some residents have called for stepped- ... More >>

[UPDATED with Plug-In Memorial:] Doug Korthof, Enviro and Electric-Car Activist, Loses Battle with Lung Cancer

​UPDATE, FEB. 14, 2:31 P.M.: What a wonderful way to mark Valentine's Day: Adopt a Charger ("Accelerating the adoption of plug-in vehicles via fee-free electric car chargers") has established the Doug Korthof Memorial Charger Fund. Money raised will be used to install and maintain a charging stati ... More >>

Louis Slotin Sonata

Cal Rep Aboard the Queen Mary

[UPDATED with More Details:] OC's Largest Municipal Solar Energy Efficiency Project Shines Today

​UPDATE, JULY 21, 8:47 A.M.: Though the ribbon-cutting unveiling the largest municipal solar energy efficiency project in Orange County is this morning, the city of Brea is already reaping savings that have exceeded expectations. For the month of June, there was a 65% reduction in electricity cost ... More >>

Tree Hugger's Ball

Santiago Event Center

[UPDATED with Looming Federal Regs:] Windpower Convention Blows into Anaheim

​UPDATE, MAY 26, 8:33 A.M.: Talk about taking the wind out of your sails.An official of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) informed attendees of the Windpower 2011 Convention & Exhibition at the Anaheim Convention Center that a process begins next year to formally reg ... More >>

UCI Professors Try to Zap Your Electric Bill

Experimental smart strip could cure you of your energy-guzzling ways

Just What We Needed--An Email Hoax Warning California Residents of 'Acid Rain'

Go ahead and sing in the rain. It's OK.​In case you weren't freaked out enough over last week's report of a radioactive plume heading this way (which officials say was innocuous), a prank email with the heading "Acid Rain Precautions" has been in circulation, warning California residents that part ... More >>

Japan Radiation No Threat to California, Officials Say

​Maybe it's the fact that Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has already suffered several explosions, is currently leaking radiation into the air, and seems to be headed toward total meltdown. Maybe it's the fact that a cold pressure system is sucking cold wind out of China and Korea and sendin ... More >>

Jared Loughner's Crazy Views Mirror Those of Glenn Beck and Dana Rohrabacher

Jared Loughner's high-school-yearbook photo​The media has portrayed alleged Arizona rampage shooter Jared Loughner as holding such politically jumbled views--his top three grievances center on government mind control, returning to the Gold Standard and political correctness--that it is impossibl ... More >>

Newport Beach and South Coast Plaza Go Green With Natural Gas and Electric Charging Stations

​Newport Beach got a little greener this week with the opening of its first natural gas fueling station and word that plans are set for a luxury electric automaker's takeover next month of a former Rolls Royce dealer's lot on Pacific Coast Highway.A $1-million compressed natural gas (CNG) facility ... More >>

Healthcare Celebration Today, Healthcare Protest Tomorrow

​Supporters of the historic healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama will gather in front of the Garden Grove district office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez this afternoon to thank Orange County's only Democratic member of Congress for her yes vote on the controversial legislation ... More >>

SCE is in a Solar Power-Buying Mood

House.govMoneymaker​When it comes to electricity made from solar panels, Southern California Edison is in a buying mood.

Utility Giant, Texas Oil Companies Fight Back With California Voter Initiatives

​An anti-tax group and a coalition of businesses quietly led by Texas oil companies have launched a signature drive for a November ballot initiative that would suspend California's pioneering law to combat global warming.Meanwhile, a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)-bankrolled measure that cons ... More >>

No Nukes is Good Nukes ... For Now

​The Orange County Register's Teri Sforza has a fascinating post today that answers the question "Will California be frozen out of Obama's nuclear future?" this way: definitely yes in the short term, possibly no in the long term.

San Onofre's Nuclear Roller Coaster

​For those on both sides of the debate over whether to fire up the Unit 2 reactor at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), last week was a roller coaster.

The County is Orange But Many Jobs Are Green

​Most of our legislators dispute climate-change science, many of our residents drive big gas guzzlers and the environmentalism of many of our "environmentalists" does not extend beyond their own communities.And yet, Orange County is a national leader when it comes to green jobs, according to new d ... More >>

Wax On, Wax Off: Oil and Water - Surfrider Foundation Defeats Tranquillon Ridge Project

John Wiley​Ever since the State Land Commission shut down the proposed Tranquillon Ridge Oil and Gas Project in a 2-1 vote in January, a battle has raged between its opponents and proponents. On friday, while we were chasing the big swell around, our reps in the California State Assembly scored a ... More >>

The Sun Also Rises in Seal Beach

Photo by Gaetan LeeBurning, man.Ever wonder if that mysterious, burning orb in the sky might help us break free from the shackles of Big Oil, high energy bills and Middle East entanglements? Or, at least, loosen said shackles?If so, you're in luck. Promoters of solar energy are presenting the partia ... More >>

Keeping Abreast of the Latest From Our Nuclear Power Plant

Perhaps you thought the only news coming out of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) lately concerned fresh Nuclear Regulatory Commission complaints about operators being slow to address nagging plant problems (coming six months after an announcement that a battery on a backup generator ... More >>

Burning Up

You're Getting Warmer

Mostly, No

WEB EXCLUSIVE! Ladies and gentlemen, the propositions!

Huntington Beach City Government

Seemed like a good idea at the time . . .

Weak on both sides...

… and radioactive in the middle. By now you know that North Korea has apparently successfully tested a nuclear weapon. (Experts prefer the term "device", rather than "weapon", but given the fact that this device's sole function is to cause large-scale destruction, I think the word weapon is ... More >>

White House Oil Men: OUT! More Taxes on Gas: IN!

My how times change. The boost that 9/11 gave the oily men in the White House was as short-lived as any post-Seinfeld sitcom starring Jason Alexander. It seems like only yesterday that Dickless Cheney was defending our latest Blood for Oil campaign by suggesting Americans essentially have a God-give ... More >>

You've Been Pump'd!

Big Oil gives new meaning to self-service

Jonathan Richman, Citizen

The modern lover lives in the modern world

Buying Woodstock

Is Ladera Ranch the green revolution or the same development crap in a new package?

MTBE Lies I Told You

An apology by Will Swaim

Diary of a Mad County

Radiation Vibe

Anti-Nuclear War

Linda McLandrich says she lost her husband to San Onofre but swears she wont lose again

Redumpvelopment

City and residents clash over future of HB dumpsite

It's the End of the World As You Know It, and I Don't Feel Fine

Ode to Sneaky Pete

Nuclear industry exposes ex-governor's Ward Valley lie