Since the beginning we recognized that this would be an uphill battle. We were also aware that the false and misleading claims made by California’s Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) —claims that were required by law to be printed on the Initiative—of tens of billions of dollars per year in added costs to the state as a result of rolling blackouts due to the closure of these plants would make it very difficult to garner the grassroots support necessary to effectively move forward with a signature drive of this magnitude. Literally every major anti-nuclear organization in California and the U.S. opted out of supporting us as a result of the LAO analysis.

Fortuitously, the recent closure of San Onofre has proven the rolling blackout myth false, along with the outlandish claims of astronomical financial impacts to the state, effectively validating what we have said since the very beginning. Though these revelations occurred too late to undo the damage caused by the LAO analysis, they have breathed new life and new opportunity into our efforts to shutter these plants.

There is still a chance, through court action, that this issue could be placed on the November ballot. There are also many organizations that initially turned away from us that are now reevaluating the possibility of directing their resources towards the closure of California’s nuclear plants in the near future. Our campaign has helped educate the public and provide the foundation necessary to proceed with these efforts.

Thank you to all of our volunteers for their time and effort in gathering signatures. Your efforts have helped propel this crucial issue forward and will not have been made in vain.

ACTION #1: Please download and sign the petition and get others to do the same. Gather signatures at markets and large events. Mail petitions no later than April 7th (Easter weekend) so the campaign receives them in time to deliver to the Secretary of State’s Office by April 16th.  Download the petition forms, instructions and other handouts at

http://californianuclearinitiative.com/cni-petition/ or

http://sanonofresafety.org/california-nuclear-initiative/print-petition/

San Onofre is temporarily shut down due to radiation leaks from defective steam generators.

San Onofre has been shut down since January 31st when radiation leaked into the air from a ruptured tube in one of two steam generators in the Unit 3 reactor. Steam generator ruptures can cause meltdowns. We were lucky this time. Both Unit 2 and Unit 3 steam generators tubes are showing years of premature wear. Unit 3 was installed less than a year ago. Unit 2 was installed less than two years ago. Southern California Edison is working around the clock to find a way to put these defective generators back on-line. And given the track record of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that will probably happen.

ACTION #2: It’s up to us to shut these plants down, so please help get the word out. There are many news articles about San Onofre right now. Please post comments on these articles, recommending people go to the CaliforniaNuclearInitiative.com website or the SanOnofreSafety.org website to download and mail petitions by April 7th.

California has plenty of power without these nuclear plants.

The good news is, we have documents showing we do not need these nuclear plants for power in California and that blackouts are extremely unlikely this summer without San Onofre — although you would never know it from the scare tactic press releases.

ACTION #3: It’s time to educate the public with the facts. Share this information with the public, post comments on news articles correcting the “misinformation”. Include this link so people will have the data to backup your comments: http://sanonofresafety.org/energy-options/

Help spread the word.

With all the news media coverage of the one-year anniversary of Fukushima and the coverage of the San Onofre shutdown, citizens are more eager than ever to shut down these plants. However, they often do not know about the CNI petition.

ACTION #4: We need your help to get the word out about the petition. Please forward this information to others, post to Facebook, twitter and other social media sites.

Stay Updated.

ACTION #5: To continue to stay updated on issues about San Onofre and other California nuclear power related issues, recommend people follow or subscribe to the mailing list at http://sanonofresafety.org/

Thank you for your support. We can’t do this without you.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant has been totally off line since January 31st, 2012 due to unusual wear and radiation leaks in the recently replaced steam generators. (Reactor Unit 2 has been off line since January 9, 2012. Reactor Unit 3 has been off line since January 31, 2012.) We were lucky the defective steam generators did not cause a meltdown. Southern California Edison, the operator and major owner of the plant, is working employees and contractors overtime to put these old reactors back on line as soon as possible. And San Onofre has ten times more safety allegations than the industry average, making it the most dangerous of all the 104 reactors in the U.S. See Allegations Charts with Nuclear Regulatory Commission data at http://sanonofresafety.org.

While we mourn Japan, we need to remember it can happen here unless action is taken. There is a reason why the Japanese people are coming to California to share their story. They are worried about us. We should be, too.

Fortunately, there is something California voters can do. Sign the petition for the California Nuclear Initiative. We need over 500,000 valid signatures to qualify this initiative for the

November ballot, so citizens can vote to effectively shut down both nuclear plants – San Onofre (near San Clemente) and Diablo Canyon (near San Luis Obispo). However, time is running out. The deadline to sign and mail petitions is April 7th, 2012.

California has access to plenty of power without these two nuclear power plants, so why are we taking the risks? A meltdown would harm thousands while evacuating, would create dead zones in California, poison our food and water supplies, and bankrupt our economy.

For more information and to download petitions go to CaliforniaNuclearInitiative.com. You can also sign up at this website to be paired with signature gatherers in your area.

Can what happened in Fukushima happen in California? As the anniversary of Japan’s tragic earthquake nears, the California Energy Commission, in its official report to the governor and the Legislature, presented a shocking response to this urgent question:

The state of California has no opinion.

See story at Ben Davis Jr.: California doesn’t know if Fukushima can happen here – Mercury News 03/09/2012

See California Energy Commission February 8, 2012 IEPR meeting transcript. Ben Davis Jr.’s questions and comments start on Page 114.

Gather at noon. Rally from 1:00 pm -3:00 pm.

San Onofre State Beach Map

Thousands of students, parents, teachers, and workers will flood into Sacramento on Monday, March 5th for a rally at the Capitol Building at 11 am. Map

They are demanding that Wall St. and the 1% pay to refund education, jobs, essential services, and a better future.

Schedule

10 am: Mass March Beginning at Southside Park at 6th and T Streets

11 am: Rally at the Capitol Building

12:30 pm: Lunch at the Capitol Building

3:30 pm: General Assembly and Nonviolent Direct Action Training to Occupy the Capitol

5:30 pm: Rally on North Steps in Solidarity with Occupy the Capitol

For more information and bus schedules, go to occupyeducationca.org/march5 or www.refundcalifornia.org/march5

Join us to honor the many lives lost and those still suffering from the massive earthquake and tsunami. The on-going accident and radiation release at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been a life altering experience for millions of people in Japan.

Our special guests from Japan will share their personal stories about living through the disaster.

A one-hour documentary, “Fukushima, Never Again” will be shown.

Pro-surfer and environmentalist, Kyle Thiermann, will inspire us with his unique perspective on nuclear power and abundant energy alternatives.

The evening will conclude with a candlelight procession down the streets of Del Mar in San Clemente. Flashlights will be provided for kids.

Please share the flyer for the Fukushima events in San Clemente (3/10/2012) and near the San Onofre nuclear power plant (3/11/2012).

The people of Japan have asked us to warn Californians that the same thing could happen here.  Please bring your California Nuclear Initiative petitions, so we can prevent a nuclear accident such as this from happening in California.

The recent closure of SONGS shows that the LAO’s fiscal analysis for our initiative is incorrect to the extent that it predicts rolling blackouts costing the state tens of billions annually. These predicted blackouts have not occurred with the recent SONGS closure. Why? Because the LA Basin has ample energy without SONGS.

The Public Utility Commission (PUC) and Cal ISO, report “The LA Basin Local Area has 12,309 MW of capacity. It requires 10,600 MW to maintain reliability. SONGS, at 2,340 MW, is critically located in the southern part of this Local Area.” (Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee Informational Hearing: After Japan: Nuclear Power Plant Safety in California, April 14, 2011). Thus, without SONGS, there is still 9,969 MW of power available in the LA Basin, leaving only 631 MW to be replaced to “maintain reliability.” (12,309 MW current capacity – 2,340 MW generated by SONGS = 9,969 MW.) As the recent closure has shown, and as one might expect, the 631 MW has proved to be readily replaced, and the suggestion that SONGS is somehow critically positioned has been disproved, as well.

In response, the industry has changed its argument to say that blackouts would only be expected during a few peak days in the summer months. However, the LAO made no distinction for season (neither does the PUC report quoted above), and appears to have premised its conclusion of a tens of billions cost for rolling blackouts on year-round occurrences. The LAO also recognized in its analysis that the legislature would take emergency actions to bring new power sources on line, if necessary, to avoid blackouts.

It is also important to note that the LAO, in response to our Records Act request, could not produce one document from any state or industry source stating such rolling blackouts would result from closing our state’s nuclear power plants. In their letters to the LAO concerning the fiscal effect of this initiative, the California Energy Commission and CAISO specifically omitted any mention of rolling blackouts or the associated costs. Purportedly, the LAO based its conclusion that blackouts would occur on verbal sources from CAISO – sources whom refused to be named or make such statements on the record.

Clearly, the nuclear industry is changing their statistics as circumstances prove them incorrect. Had the industry initially reported to the LAO that grid instability would cause blackouts only during the peak hours of a few summer days, if at all, the fiscal analysis would have been significantly different.

Location: Frey Winery in Mendocino’s beautiful Redwood Valley

14000 Tomki Rd, Redwood Valley, CA 95470

Potential extent of radiation after meltdown

To protect organic food, wine, farms and families from nuclear power plants located near active earthquake faults, America’s first organic winery has assembled an evening of speakers and discussion around nuclear energy in California and the California Nuclear 2012 Ballot Initiative to close the State’s two nuclear power plants which sit near major active earthquake faults.

Organic Pizza (made with ingredients grown at Frey Winery) baked in the winery’s beehive outdoor oven will be served along with Frey organic wine.

Speakers to be announced, presentations will be given, petitions and information will be available to sign and take. Local music provided.

To learn more about the event and Frey Winery visit www.freywine.com.

A nuclear meltdown in California would potentially result in the winds carrying the fallout to both the Central Valley and Los Angeles basins, settling into forests, streams, farms and cities.

Diablo Canyon and San Onofre Nuclear Power Plants operate near some of the largest population centers and most important agricultural lands in the US. The March 2011 triple meltdown and large radiation releases at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan have brought the risks and cost of nuclear power to the forefront of public debate.

California’s two Nuclear Power Plants, both built in the 1970’s, are approaching the end of their 40 year design life, and have been plagued with problems for many years, both sit on active Earthquake faults. San Onofre has the worst safety record of the nation’s 64 nuclear power plants, as the recent January, 31st accident and radiation release attest.

It is time for California, the nation and the world to begin a rational and fact based discussion about the costs and dangers of operating old, poorly designed and poorly sited nuclear plants.

California has excess energy without these two nuclear power plants. In addition, renewable energy alternatives exist and conservation measures can be enacted to add to our energy supply. The Japanese have made this clear, after shutting down 50 of its 54 nuclear power plants in response to the Fukushima Disaster.

Frey Winery location