About the film

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.   

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

This is a syndrome shared by all 94 operating nuclear reactors across the United States with potentially more coming online soon.

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 94 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?  

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