Shivers in San Onofre’s Shadow

For three decades, Nancy Dyer has lived near the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Like other San Clemente residents, Dyer says that most of the time, the plant--its twin, dome-shaped reactors visible from Interstate 5--has been but a small concern in the back of her mind.

Until now.

San Clemente residents, shop owners, even surfers at San Onofre now view the nuclear plant with some trepidation.

Dyer takes a fatalistic view: “Look, if terrorists do blow it up and if we’re going to go, we’re going to go. I worry more for the people in Santa Ana, because that’s where the fallout will go.”

Keri Reed, 22, a customer in the hair salon that Dyer owns, says one thing is for sure: People are talking about where the next attack might be.

“Some people are saying Vegas, but it could really be a place where nobody’s expecting it,” she said.

But no one appeared to be packing up the minivan and moving to Montana. San Onofre is one of the nuclear plants that failed Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation tests last fall. Details of the failure, a security breach, were never disclosed. But since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the plant has beefed up security, with guards carrying semiautomatic weapons while patrolling the perimeter, hallways and control room.

The airspace above the plant is restricted because the property is part of Camp Pendleton, said plant spokesman Ray Golden, whose recent statement about the plant’s ability to withstand a crash by a 747 jetliner caused anxiety and confusion when he later retracted it.

“I said the plant was designed to withstand a hit by a 747. But I then checked and we are not built to withstand a 747,” he said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acknowledged that nuclear plants were not built to withstand the impact of such aircraft, and that “detailed engineering analyses of a large airliner crash have not yet been performed,” according to a press release.

But because not all area residents were aware of Golden’s retraction, some argue that the plant is safe from such an attack and some argue the opposite.

In taverns and restaurants throughout the city of 50,300, there is also confusion about the power plant’s superstructure. Some say it’s 9 inches thick; some say thicker, some say thinner.

“How fast can you run from fallout?” asked a tavern patron. “Not fast enough,” replied another.

According to Golden, the power plant’s concrete domes range in thickness from 3 feet, 9 inches to 7 feet. The concrete is fortified with steel rods and quarter-inch steel plates. Additionally, the reactor lies in the center of a containment building shielded by reinforced concrete 3 to 6 feet thick, he said.

Still, many residents, including City Councilwoman Stephanie Dorey, believe that no matter what is done to guarantee safety and security, there’s always a chance that something could go wrong, “putting us all in jeopardy.”

Dorey is buying cell phones for her entire family, in part for safety, but also after she heard that loved ones called one another from the hijacked airliners on Sept. 11.

In addition, her family is preparing a contingency plan. With her daughter in college at San Luis Obispo, the Doreys would meet in a city north of Los Angeles “just in case” San Onofre is targeted.

“I called my daughter and told her we need to have a plan if we have to evacuate,” Dorey said. “We need a city to meet up in. But my daughter said, ‘Mom. We have Diablo nuclear plant right up here.’ ”

Josh Wright, 24, membership manager at the San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation, has kept his mind on his work. But before Sept. 11, he often daydreamed of moving to Hawaii and surfing the island’s famous point breaks.

“I’ve been toying with the idea of moving to Hawaii,” Wright said. “But the closeness of the power plant didn’t register until my girlfriend said, ‘Josh, if you ever wanted to leave, now would be a good time.’ ”

After nine years with Surfrider, he has what few surfers can boast: being able to live near the ocean with a good job.

“From what I hear in town, people are worried,” Wright said. “But I believe the reactor can withstand a missile attack. Plus, we live so near to Camp Pendleton, and I have a lot of confidence in the military.”

As they watched surfers glide across the waves at San Onofre State Beach, Dan Bustos and his brother, John, sat comfortably on beach chairs, nearly in the shadow of the nuclear plant.

“We know of the apprehension the public has about places like that,” said Dan Bustos, 54, nodding toward the plant.

In fact, the brothers had talked the night before about a possible terrorist attack on the plant. But both agreed that “we’re not going to stop our life, the way we live,” Dan Bustos said. Nor would they waste a beautiful fall day that offered Dan, who lives in Oregon, a chance to spend quality time with his brother, 41, a Pasadena firefighter learning to surf.

Geoff Jennings of Newport Beach said people are too worried about the threat of terrorists.

“Having a healthy dose of caution is good,” said Jennings, preparing to paddle his kayak out to sea. “But if you’re going to be overly paranoid, you’d never leave the house.”

A test of nerves may come Oct. 24, when San Onofre tests its emergency siren system from 10 a.m. to noon.

“I don’t think people living here feel safer because of Camp Pendleton,” said Ole’s Tavern owner Mark Secora. “But I feel safer because we’re living in a small town and it’s not L.A. or San Francisco, for example. . . . But you never know.”