From 21st Century Disaster Tips You Will Not Hear From Officials.

My head is still spinning from the SONGS (San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station) and NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) public meeting last night in Dana Point. (Why not San Clemente?) Darin, Ella and I went to the SONGS and NRC meeting hoping to convince them to start a Twitter account for public safety and emergency notifications. Many people in our community do not work within earshot of a siren. They may work in Irvine, Costa Mesa, San Diego or LA. An emergency Twitter account would alert those with family in our immediate area. Twitter has proven to be a great asset in emergency situations and we have hoped that our public officials would implement some of the safety and notification services now available through free services such as Twitter. This video is a great example of how social media can help in disasters.

What I discovered is that the employees of the NUCLEAR REACTOR less than 6 miles from my home say that they can not speak freely about safety issues and concerns. One employee stated "We have no truth in our meetings at San Onofre." A former employee, just 8 days into retirement, sat front and center to voice his concerns as a member of the public. His knowledge of the plant and its internal operations frighten him. "It's bad right now that is why you are here." Rick said to the representatives from NRC.

It is rare for the NRC to send a "chilling effect letter" they sent one to SONGS because the amount of allegations made it necessary to do so. I had never heard of a "chilling effect letter," and discovered it " refers to a cold relationship between plant executives, supervisors and employees."

SONGS has ten times the number of safety allegations as the average nuclear plant in the US. Employees do not feel safe to voice their concerns over safety issues. That is not good.

The BP Oil Spill was a disaster waiting to happen. The employees knew it, but management turned its back on the signs and signals from the field. Now terms like "company culture" and "employee distrust" start to get very real.

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has begun a Twitter account. Their account is @SCE_SONGS for Southern California Edison -- San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.