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SOS - The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power's Legacy

SOS - THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME: Nuclear Power’s Legacy

A timely and urgent story with global implications

SOS - THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME: Nuclear Power’s Legacy

Filmed over 12 years, SOS - THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME: Nuclear Power's Legacy dramatically chronicles how Southern California residents came together to force the shutdown of an aging nuclear power plant only to be confronted by an alarming reality: tons of nuclear waste left near a popular beach, only 100 feet from the rising sea, that — with radioactivity lasting millions of years—menaces present and future generations.

Directed by James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan and Morgan Peterson, and produced by Mary Beth Brangan, the film, a production of EON - The Ecological Options Network, features nuclear experts Donna Gilmore, Dan Hirsch, Gordon Edwards, as well as activists Karen Hadden, Rose Gardner, Torgen Johnson and Gary and Laurie Headrick.

The film portrays San Onofre as a microcosm of this national problem - the mismanagement of lethal radioactive waste.

This is a syndrome shared by all 55 nuclear reactor sites across the United States.

SOS spotlights the essential role citizens must play to ensure public safety is the top priority. Told largely from the perspective of five main characters, the film shows how they mobilize their communities as they become experts on the issues and tactically wiser in the face of adversity.

SOS - THE SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME is a critical warning that America's 55 nuclear power plants, each with their own tons of intensely radioactive waste lasting millennia — in inadequate temporary containers with no plans to repair them — are putting their local communities and national security at grave risk.

SOS is an urgent call to action. Will viewers rally to embrace this lifeline in time?

  • James Heddle
    Director
  • Mary Beth Brangan
    Director
  • Morgan Peterson
    Director
  • Mary Beth Brangan
    Producer
  • Christopher Hedge
    Composer
  • Lisa Smithline
    Impact Production
  • Chelo Alvarez-Stehle
    Impact Production
    Sands of Silence
  • Torgen Johnson
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Gordon Edwards
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Donna Gilmore
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Naoto Kan
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Gary & Laurie Headrick
    Key Cast
    "selves"
  • Dan Hirsch
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Karen Hadden
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Rose Garden
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Gregory Jazcko
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Arnie Gundersen
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • S. David Freeman
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Deanna Polk
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 37 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 3, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    750,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital / DCP
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Awareness Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 8, 2023
    World Premiere
    Grand Jury Award Documentary Feature
  • Documentaries Without Borders

    United States
    Outstanding Excellence
Director Biography - James Heddle, Mary Beth Brangan, Morgan Peterson

MARY BETH BRANGAN (Producer/Executive Producer/Co-Director) is an author, award-winning filmmaker and an experienced organizer at the community, state, national and international levels. She is the Executive-Director and co-founder with her partner, James Heddle of EON, the Ecological Options Network, a non-profit organization. EON's films have been broadcast on PBS nationally and broadcast internationally and have been screened at the United Nations, the US Congress and Parliaments, libraries and universities worldwide.

JAMES HEDDLE (Co-Director) has been a filmmaker and writer for the last forty years of his life. Before that he worked in civil rights as an inter-group relations professional, then as a university teacher and administrator in communications and psychology before going freelance as a media producer. With his partner Mary Beth Brangan he co-founded and co-directs EON – the Ecological Options Network, a non-profit education and media company.

MORGAN PETERSON (Co-Director/Editor) is a graduate of the UCLA School of Film and Television. Peterson was producer of the 2018 Oscar-nominated short film DeKalb Elementary, and the feature documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unlikely Adult Fans of My Little Pony (2012). She is writer/director for the award- winning shorts I'll Take Care Of You (2014), The Greats (2015), and Bloodlust (2018).

CHRISTOPHER HEDGE (Composer) is an award winning composer. He is known for his records and film soundtracks. Hedge has collaborated with many unique musicians to blend forms from around the world. He is committed to scoring films with social and environmental goals. Creating music with purpose has earned him widespread recognition.

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Director Statement

After the triple meltdown at Fukushima, James and Mary Beth, having worked on nuclear issues for decades, both as activists and filmmakers, realized we needed to do whatever we could to prevent the same catastrophe from happening on the West Coast. Here in California, we had two nuclear power plants with four reactors perched on the edge of the Pacific, surrounded by earthquake faults and in tsunami zones just like in Fukushima.

That began a ten-year trek up and down the coast from the San Francisco Bay area to southern California, documenting with our cameras the dramatic revelations, industry maneuvers, and brave community actions attempting to deal with the horrific legacy of producing electricity from splitting uranium atoms.

We teamed up with filmmaker Morgan Peterson and began the work of whittling down our hundreds of hours of footage into a compelling narrative. We believe that film is one of the most powerful tools in reaching citizens who are unaware of the dangerous decisions being made that leave our communities vulnerable to a nuclear disaster.

In telling the story of San Onofre, we hope our documentary SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy helps rally folks here in California and across the U.S. to get informed and organize to mitigate the enormous threat posed by this deadly waste lasting millions of years to both local public safety and to national security.