Diablo Canyon nuclear plant gets 20-year license renewal
The federal NRC extended California's last nuclear plant, which sits on two earthquake faults and supplies 8 percent of the state's electricity.
The last remaining nuclear power plant in California got its federal license to operate renewed yesterday. It sits on two earthquake faults, and 13 million people live downwind of it.
But California needs the electricity that the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Generating Station generates. 8 percent of the state's electricity comes from Diablo Canyon.
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday renewed Diablo Canyon's license to operate. It was built 30 years ago, and it was supposed to close in 2025. The worn-out plant was to be disassembled, the highly dangerous contaminated parts buried in the desert.
PG&E — Pacific Gas & Electric — has been paid by the state to keep it running. That is the same company that has killed at least 117 people in wildfires caused by its equipment over the past 10 years.
But the two nuclear cores at Diablo Canyon provide clean electricity, zero carbon dioxide output.
The license renewal from the commission allows the plant to remain running for 20 years. But the Los Angeles Times reports that extending Diablo Canyon's life past 2030 would require additional action from the California Legislature.
And last week, the California Coastkeeper Alliance filed a petition asking the State Water Resources Control Board to throw out the facility's water discharge permit.