20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY february 9-15, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Despite a grace period for Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, federal regulators say no to resuming review of PG&E’s extension request. By Jean Yamamura Power The San Luis Obispo-based group Mothers for Peace has fought the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in Avila Beach, in San Luis Obispo County, since before it opened, arguing safety concerns over radioactive waste and nearby earthquake faults. Protests did not prevent Pacific Gas & Electric Company from obtaining the necessary approvals and licenses to open the 2.2-gigawatt plant in 1985. The two units came to generate about 20 percent of the power in PG&E’s service area today, despite concerns about seismic safety that came into focus over the decades and broader concerns about nuclear power in general. By 2016, the concerns—from the public, from regulators, from lawmakers—coupled with a vision to transition California’s renewable energy supply to greener, safer sources than nuclear—led to PG&E’s announcement that it would close the plant, and not seek extensions when licenses to keep operating each reactor were up for renewal in 2024 and 2025. (For a more detailed timeline, see p. 24.) But after 2016, faced with uncertainty around the ability of energy sources like solar and wind, the political tide turned, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden Administration signaling they were interested in extending the life of Diablo Canyon. Keeping the plant open required three-party agreement between the state legislature, federal regulators and PG&E—and in the final hours of the legislative session last year, California lawmakers passed Senate Bill 846. The bill authorizes a five-year extension on plant operations, until 2029 and 2030 for each reactor, provides expedited repermitting, and authorizes a $1.4 billion loan from the state to PG&E. What happens beyond that fiveyear extension remains a question mark, and there are other entities involved, including the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. And on The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant’s two units produce a total of 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, 8.5 percent of California’s electricity generation and about 15 percent of its renewable energy output—enough electricity to power 3 million homes. Courtesy of PG&E
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==