Nuclear Waste and Safety

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LA28 Faces Backlash Over Surfing Venue Near Nuclear Waste Site

The LA28 Organizing Committee’s recent decision to host the 2028 Olympic surfing competition at Lower Trestles, a renowned surf break located next to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, has sparked intense public concern. Critics say the venue’s proximity to a high-level radioactive waste storage facility raises serious safety and environmental red flags.

What Needs to Happen Now

The Forgotten Problem

The waste was never supposed to stay here. But now, with no federal solution, San Onofre has become a de facto nuclear waste dump, vulnerable to rising seas, earthquakes, and systematic negligence.

A Timeline of Warnings Ignored

How San Onofre Became a Nuclear Dead End

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) hasn’t produced power since 2013, but it still poses one of California’s most immediate environmental and public health threats. Over 3.6 million pounds of high-level radioactive waste remain stranded just feet from the Pacific Ocean, in thin-walled steel canisters that cannot be inspected, opened, or repaired.

Fifty Years of Nuclear Protection Gone- Say No to AB 305

California’s Nuclear Safeguards Act of 1976 has stood as a crucial line of defense, ensuring no new nuclear reactors are built until a permanent solution for radioactive waste is created. AB 305 threatens to dismantle that safeguard, clearing the way for small modular reactors (SMRs) without resolving the waste crisis we already face. These SMRs are neither truly small nor do we know if they’re safe–as an SMR has never been built. SMR are actually an experimental technology that generates more waste per unit of energy than traditional reactors and operates under relaxed safety protocols that could jeopardize public health and environmental security.

Taxpayers, Not Tech Giants: The Hidden Costs of Reopening Three Mile Island

As the nation faces critical choices about energy and technology, a troubling reality emerges: taxpayers, not big corporations, are footing the bill for the reopening of Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history. Equally as disadvantageous for taxpayers is the lack of financial risk for the owners should their work be negligent in reopening Three Mile Island. That’s because the Price-Anderson Act limits nuclear industry liability in the event of a disaster to about 1% of the damage. Owners are off the hook for damages even if they are negligent and under Price-Anderson, taxpayers are responsible and pay for these damages.

LA28 Hosted at Lower Trestles

The Olympics LA28 Organizing Committee has announced that Lower Trestles, the world-class surf break next to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, will host the surfing competition for the 2028 Olympics. While this may be celebrated as a cultural win for Southern California, it raises urgent and unsettling questions. Just yards from where Olympians will compete, 3.6 million pounds of high-level radioactive waste sit in thin-walled, welded stainless steel canisters, buried near the shoreline, a few feet above the water table. These canisters were never designed for long-term storage, and cannot be opened, inspected, or repaired once sealed. The site is vulnerable to sea-level rise, earthquakes, and erosion–with no permanent disposal solution in place and no emergency evacuation plan for the surrounding region.