Regulators nix proposal on California’s last nuclear power plant

In pointed language, federal regulators rebuffed a request Tuesday from the operator of California’s last nuclear power plant that could have smoothed its pathway to securing a longer operating life for its twin reactors.

The decision marks the latest skirmish in a long-running fight over the operation and safety of the decades-old Diablo Canyon plant, which Gov. Gavin Newsom says should keep running beyond a scheduled 2025 closure to ward off possible blackouts as the state transitions to solar and other renewable sources.

In October, Pacific Gas & Electric asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume consideration of an application initially submitted in 2009 to extend the plant’s life, which later was withdrawn after PG&E in 2016 announced plans to shutter the reactors.

Under existing rules, the operating licenses for the sister reactors expire in 2024 and 2025, at which time they would be forced to close.

The turnaround came in September after the Democratic governor and the Legislature voided the 2016 agreement to close the plant and opened the way for PG&E to seek a longer operating run from federal regulators.

The NRC staff bluntly rejected the idea of going back in time to resume consideration of the previous license-extension plan, saying that “resuming this review would not be consistent with ... the Principles of Good Regulation,” referring to its guiding values, including independence and openness.

In response, PG&E said it would produce a new application to extend the plant’s life by two decades — the typical term — by the end of 2023, and had been planning for that possibility.

Another separate fight is looming over PG&E’s request to allow the plant to continue running beyond its current, authorized term while the federal agency considers the license extensions. The agency did not rule on that request.

Newsom’s decision last year to support a longer operating run for Diablo Canyon shocked environmentalists and anti-nuclear advocates, since he had once been a leading voice for closing the plant located on a coastal bluff midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.