Re: Responsibility run-around continues unabated while vulnerability remains high...

To: "Barbara Byron" <BByron@energy.state.ca.us>, graydavis@governor.ca.gov, "Barbara Boxer, Senator (CA, D)" <senator@boxer.senate.gov>
From: "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: Responsibility run-around continues unabated while vulnerability remains high...
Cc: president@whitehouse.gov,  "Russell Wise, NRC" <rxw@nrc.gov>,  "Elmo Collins" <eec@nrc.gov>,   "Pat Gwynn" <tpg@nrc.gov>,  "Clanon, Paul" <pac@cpuc.ca.gov>,   "Ajello, Julian E." <JEA@cpuc.ca.gov>,   "Wong, Zee Z." <czw@cpuc.ca.gov>,   "Clark, Richard W." <rwc@cpuc.ca.gov>,   "NRC" <the.secretary@hq.doe.gov>, Bob Aldrich <boba@energy.ca.gov>, "Steve Woods" <swoods1@dhs.ca.gov>

To: Barbara Byron <Bbyron@energy.state.ca.us>
cc:  Bob Aldrich <boba@energy.ca.gov>
From: Russell Hoffman, Concerned Citizen
Re: SHUT THE NUKES DOWN NOW
Date: September 19th, 2001 (~1:30 pm PST)

Ms Byron, Mr. Aldrich:

Please forward all my previous correspondence (to each of you) to Commissioner Robert Laurie immediately.  The assertions you (Ms Byron) make in the letter shown below have already been answered in that correspondence.

What you have written here (shown below), Ms Byron, is political hype and lies.  Go read the statutes, acts, laws, declarations, etc. by which California ceded authority, and read my prior letters.  You should be fired, and Mr. Aldrich should DEFINITELY be fired for not sending me directly to the correct person(s) who are supposed to handle this matter.  I'm tired of the run-around.  Someone at the state level needs to get real.

Also, please note that I sent a letter this morning containing news reports that the Russian secret service has been told that America's nuclear power plants are to be the next targets of terrorism.  But one hardly needs a news report to guess that.  Make sure that letter, and my prior correspondence, is all forwarded to Commissioner Robert Laurie and to the "knowledgeable" government employee you mention, Steve Woods, as well as to any other California state agency who might have an interest.  All the other information I have sent to the both of you should all be handled as a group and forwarded together to the appropriate persons in government who can act on these concerns.

This matter is extremely urgent.  We must shut the nuclear power plants down now, and disable them so that they cannot be restarted by anyone, and move California forward, to clean, benign, renewable, stable, terrorist-resistant, employment-creating energy sources, which abound in this state but are not being used because of prior political foolishness and a failure to face reality about the vulnerabilities of nuclear power (let alone the terrible financial burden of that energy source).

It is clear that the entire state of California has passed the buck on concerns for the safety of our citizens.  It's time to take that concern back for the sake of the people, because although the concerns were passed on to others, the dangers have remained and grown worse as the radioactive waste accumulates and the plants age, and the global political situation worsens.

Please also send all this correspondence to the person in the state government who is in charge of renewable energy options, and please give me that person's name and contact information.  Also please forward these messages to that person's technical advisor (similar to Steve Woods but for renewable, clean, wholesome energy options) and give me his name as well.

Thank you in advance for helping to save California from a mega-disaster.

Sincerely,

Russell Hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA

Attachment:  Letter this hour from Barbara Byron, which was received AFTER I sent my previous letter to her.)

At 01:02 PM 9/19/01 , "Barbara Byron" <Bbyron@energy.state.ca.us> wrote:
Dear Mr. Hoffman,

Mr. Aldrich forwarded your most recent e-mail message about the vulnerability of California's nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks and he asked me to provide you with a state contact regarding nuclear power plant safety.         

By federal statute, the operation and safety of commercial nuclear power plants, including requests to suspend or revoke an operating license, are matters of federal regulation under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  The state communicates with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through Commissioner Robert Laurie, who is the State Liaison Officer to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  A state contact who is knowledgable about nuclear power plant safety is Steve Woods at the Department of Health Services' Radiologic Health Branch, who works on California's emergency response planning for nuclear power plants.  His e-mail address is:  swoods1@dhs.ca.gov.

California and local agencies have offsite emergency response jurisdiction that includes plans and procedures for responding to an incident at California nuclear power plants.  However, the safety and operation of these plants are regulated under federal statute by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.   

>>> "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com> 09/18/01 06:58PM >>>
To: Barbara Byron, California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-39
Sacramento, CA 95825
BByron@energy.state.ca.us

From: Russell Hoffman, Concerned Citizen, Carlsbad, CA

Date: September 18th, 2001 (6:50 pm PST)

Dear Ms. Byron,

I understand that my letters to Mr. Bob Aldrich have been forwarded toyou because you are the California government employee who handles safetyissues at California's nuclear power plants.

Rather than restate my points, since presumably Mr. Aldrich forwarded ALLmy emails which were sent to him and to the State of California regardingthis issue, I will only ask you one question here:

When can I expect California's nuclear power plants to be shut down, andif not immediately, why not?

I expect this letter to be answered properly and promptly, along withyour responses to all my comments in my previous letters, which were sentto Mr. Aldrich. This matter is extremely urgent and we have notime.

Sincerely,

Russell D. hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA

Attachment: Letter from Mr. Bob Aldrich

===============================================

At 05:48 PM 9/18/01 , Bob Aldrich wrote:
The contact person is Barbara Byron....You canreach her at:

Barbara Byron
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-39
Sacramento, CA 95825
BByron@energy.state.ca.us



September 18th, 2001

Mr. Aldrich,

Your protestations not withstanding (shown below), you made claims to mewhich were intended to pacify me and stop me from being concerned.If you have passed my correspondence on to the appropriate staffperson at [your] agency, I wish to know the name of that person andwhat their experience in nuclear safety issues is, and their contactinformation.

This is an urgent matter, Mr. Aldrich. This is not an emailletter-writing campaign, this is not a debate, and I have no wishto debate you. This is a request by citizens to shut the nukes downNOW, before a terrorist attack on them, or a natural disaster, or amechanical flaw, or an asteroid, or poor training, or something else,destroys them.

During the past eight years, while you were informationofficer for the California Energy Commission, San Onofre generatedabout a thousand tons of High Level Radioactive Waste. Did youprovide that information to ANYONE in that entire eight years? Thatthousand tons is just sitting there, vulnerable. Did you ensurethat the California energy web site discusses the dangers of nuclearpower and nuclear waste so that citizens can make a balanceddecision?

I don't know what you did before writing to me, but your letter was aclassic example of the government lying to the people. If you wantto apologize to me for something, apologize for that. But I'drather you forget about the apology and learn the facts. Then myactions would not surprise you in the least, as there is a clearand present danger which YOU are in a position to do somethingabout.

You can help Californians understand that this is much bigger than a fewblackouts -- which is what you threatened us with, if we shut the nukesdown.

You, Mr. Aldrich, lied to me about your knowledge level by makingstatements which you had no idea of the veracity of. You lied aboutthe importance of nuclear power to California, and about our availablerenewable energy choices. Lies, lies, lies. You have not --as information officer -- even answered my direct questions,such as, how much money are you saying California invested inrenewables? What is the name of the state employee who isresponsible for safety issues at nuclear power plants? How manyother people have you sent pacifying letters to in the past 8 yearsregarding nuclear power?

You owe me an apology, Mr. Aldrich, for accusing me of trying to get intoan email war with you. I am trying to find out thefacts. I am trying to find the state employees who have theanswers. Your uncooperative accusations and your original brush-offof my comments are criminally ignorant at best.

If you had simply told me that you were not the right person to answer myquestions, and had given me the name of the person at the state level whoyou were passing my letters on to, I would not have any complaints aboutyou. But you have served the public incredibly poorly and for that,you should be fired.

Sincerely,

Russell Hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA

=========================================================

At 03:33 PM 9/18/01 , Bob Aldrich wrote:
To Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Bell, and Ms. Hunter:

May I try to clear up what obviously has degraded into a e-mailletter-writing campaign, in hopes of forestalling any more missivesdirected at me.

I am the Commission's webmaster. It is part of my responsibility toanswer e-mails sent by members of the public to our website's generale-mail address. I answered Mr. Hoffman to the best of my ability,hoping that I was responding to his main concerns about power plantsafety and directing him to the NRC for specifics. Before becominga state employee I was a reporter and news anchor for 10 years (includingwining awards for investigative journalism) and have reported on nuclearissues (Diablo and San Onofre) for Pacifica radio ( KPFK) among othersstations. Following that I was an information officer for the EnergyComission for eight years before being made the webmaster in 1994. So Ihave some basic knowledge of the nuclear issues but can better beconsidered a generalist regarding the state's energy system.

However, I am not involved in the nuclear energy at the EnergyCommission. Those who are have been made aware of Mr. Hoffman'se-mails and concerns. My comments to Mr. Hoffman were generalin nature and sent in response to the fears that many people may havefollowing last week's horrendous attacks. Mr. Hoffman respondedwith a multiple page e-mail, followed by four more e-mails.

I asked him to take me off his list as I am not the appropriate personfor him to comment. I have already passed his e-mails on to theappropriate staff person at our agency.

I do apologize to Mr. Hoffman for misunderstanding my originalintentions...but I do not wish to debate him or get into e-mail wars withhim regarding nuclear safety or other issues. I would imagine thatothers may respond back to him regarding his specific questions.

Bob Aldrich

===============================================================

Dear Mr. Aldrich,

If you chose to shut yourself off from public comment,perhaps its time to get off public employment a well.

The materials sent to you, me and other by Mr. Hoffman arecertainly credible and frightening and certainly should not be dismissedby any one in your position.

Sincerely, Jim Bell

----- Original Message -----
From: Russell D. Hoffman
To: Bob Aldrich ; graydavis@governor.ca.gov ; Barbara Boxer,Senator (CA, D)
Cc: president@whitehouse.gov ; Russell Wise, NRC ; Elmo Collins ;Pat Gwynn ; Clanon, Paul ; Ajello, Julian E. ; Wong, Zee Z. ; Clark,Richard W. ; NRC
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 11:53 AM
Subject: [CAPPcoord] Followup letter from Bob Aldrich, CaliforniaEnergy Commission,to Russell Hoffman, Concerned Citizen (withresponse)

To: Bob Aldrich, Webmaster, California Energy Commission
From: Russell Hoffman, Carlsbad, CA
Date: September 18th, 2001
Re: Your letter to me this morning

>>>>> At 11:09 AM 9/18/01 , boba<boba@energy.ca.gov> wrote:>>>>>

Please take me off your e-mail list. I do not wish to receive anymore
information from you. If you have additional questions regardingnuclear
issues in California, please write to the NRC.

Bob Aldrich
--
/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Do your part to help during California's Electricity Crisis.
If you're away from your desk for more than 5-10 minutes,
set your computer and monitor to go to sleep or go into
energy saver mode during the business day. Turnyour
computer, monitor and peripherals off when you leave at
the end of the day and over the weekend -- turn them off
at the surge protector power strip.

To learn more about what you can do go to:

http://www.flexyourpower.ca.gov


Bob Aldrich
Webmaster
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-29
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-654-4989

Commission Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov
Kids' Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/
Energy Center:http://www.consumerenergycenter.org

/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

<<<<< END OF BOB ALDRICH'S LETTER TO RUSSELL HOFFMAN,SEPT. 19TH, 2001 <<<<<

Mr. Aldrich,

Yesterday, as a representative of the California State Government,you
responded to my letter about the need to shut down the fouroperating
nuclear power reactors in California due to terrorism threats andother
concerns.

You told me, I can assure you that the state and the operators orall
energy systems are doing what they can to protect the public healthand
safety.

I responded with what I believe is overwhelming evidence that yourresponse
to me was hollow and meaningless I showed youstatements by a nuclear
physicists, a 30-year former employee of the plant, and others, to provemy
case.

I also asked you to pass my concerns to someone in the CaliforniaState
Government who could answer my questions responsibly andknowledgeably.

This is a perfectly normal request from a California State citizen, andit
is your duty to act accordingly to resolve me concerns, especiallymy
concerns about your own letter to me from the previous day!

Your first letter to me gave my your own personal assurances that weare
safe. I wish to know your background to make thoseassurances. How many
other Californians have you given similar assurances to? And I wishto
have someone in California's State Government explain to me how itis
possible that I am safe from nuclear disaster. Instead you tell meto
contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Why? Our lawswhich ceded
jurisdiction to the Federal Government were absolutely clear on one
thing: If the Feds did not operate the plants safely, we must takecontrol
back.

Therefore, SOMEONE in the California State Government must be aware ofwhat
is happening at the nuclear power plants operating within the
state. Otherwise there is no way the State could know if it shouldexecute
its written responsibilities to take back control if the plants are
improperly run (or if they are being run when they shouldn't be runat
all). I wish you to pass ALL my correspondence with you to thatperson in
the California State Government who can answer my questionsprofessionally
and factually.

Furthermore, I want an apology from you for your hollow assurancesand
today's rude response.

Sincerely,

Russell Hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA

Attachment (1): Letter received from Laura Hunter, EnvironmentalHealth
Coalition, after cc'ing her my last letter to you.

===========================================================

Russell
Thanks a lot for sending these. I will distribute them to manyothers.
Laura

Laura Hunter
Environmental Health Coalition
1717 Kettner, Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 235-0281
FAX (619) 232-3670
email: LauraH@environmentalhealth.org
<mailto:LauraH@environmentalhealth.org>

============================================================




*************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** Carlsbad CA
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
**http://www.animatedsoftware.com
*************************************************
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--

/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Do your part to help during California's Electricity Crisis.
If you're away from your desk for more than 5-10 minutes,
set your computer and monitor to go to sleep or go into
energy saver mode during the business day. Turnyour
computer, monitor and peripherals off when you leave at
the end of the day and over the weekend -- turn them off
at the surge protector power strip.

To learn more about what you can do go to:

http://www.flexyourpower.ca.gov


Bob Aldrich
Webmaster
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-29
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-654-4989

Commission Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov
Kids' Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/
Energy Center:http://www.consumerenergycenter.org

/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
*************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** Carlsbad CA
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
**http://www.animatedsoftware.com
*************************************************




-- /_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Do your part to help during California's Electricity Crisis.
If you're away from your desk for more than 5-10 minutes,
set your computer and monitor to go to sleep or go into
energy saver mode during the business day. Turnyour
computer, monitor and peripherals off when you leave at
the end of the day and over the weekend -- turn them off
at the surge protector power strip.

To learn more about what you can do go to:

http://www.flexyourpower.ca.gov


Bob Aldrich
Webmaster
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-29
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-654-4989

Commission Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov
Kids' Website:http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/
Energy Center:http://www.consumerenergycenter.org

/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

*************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** Carlsbad CA
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
**http://www.animatedsoftware.com
*************************************************
This web page has been presented on the World Wide Web by:

The Animated Software Company
http://www.animatedsoftware.com
Mail to: rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
First posted September 22nd, 2001.

Webwiz: Russell D. Hoffman