San Diego Union-Tribune

CHEERS, JEERS FOR KEEPING NUCLEAR PLANT OPERATING

Reactions mixed after Gov. Newsom suggests extending Diablo Canyon

- BY ROB NIKOLEWSKI

Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a potential jolt to the state’s electric grid late last week when he called for possibly extending the life of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the last remaining nuclear facility in California.

While the specifics of what is required to keep Diablo Canyon open are still unclear, supporters of nuclear power welcomed Newsom’s remarks. But longtime opponents have pushed back, saying plans to shut down the facility near San Luis

Obispo should stay on schedule.

“Logic and the safety of our community requires Diablo Canyon to close as planned in 2024 and 2025,” said San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace in a statement. “Millions of dollars of taxpayer and ratepayer money have already been spent to support an orderly shutdown process.”

But Gene Nelson, a longtime Diablo Canon advocate and government liaison for California­ns for Green Nuclear Power, said keeping the plant open is crucial for grid reliabilit­y and ensuring the state meets its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

“You need the 24/7 reliable power (of nuclear) because you need to keep the grid running,” Nelson said. “The sun doesn’t always shine (for solar generation) and the wind doesn’t always blow sufficient­ly hard to turn the blades on the wind generators.”

On Monday, the California Independen­t System Operator — the nonprofit that manages the electric grid for about 80 percent of the state — cited “uncertaint­ies” caused by climate change and “emerging barriers” as factors keeping the state from bringing clean energy resources online.

As a result, the grid operator said load forecasts by state agencies anticipate­d a shortage of about 1,500 to 2,000 megawatts between now and 2026. That’s based on a reliabilit­y risk target of one outage every 10 years.

“The past two summers have demonstrat­ed that additional re

sources are needed to account for extreme conditions and supply delays which are not adequately captured in the traditiona­l planning metrics,” the system operator said in a statement first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

In August 2020, California experience­d two consecutiv­e days of blackouts, with outages lasting as long as 2 hours in some parts of the state. Last year, the grid operator barely avoided a repeat after a series of heat waves in the summer and into October that pushed California’s electric system to its limits.

Concerns about power outages prompted Newsom to tell the L.A. Times editorial board last Thursday that the state should consider applying for a share of $6 billion the federal government’s Department of Energy is offering to keep nuclear power plants across the country from shutting down.

The deadline for submission­s is May 19.

“We would be remiss not to put that on the table as an option,” said Newsom, who added that eventually he wants to see Diablo Canyon closed.

But in the short-term, keeping Diablo’s 2,240 megawatts of zero-emissions generation online should be considered “to ensure we have a reliable grid, especially as we head” into the summer, Newsom’s communicat­ions director, Erin Mellon, said in an email Monday to the Union-Tribune.

As for applying for federal funding by May 19, Mellon said it is not up to the governor but the plant’s operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, to do that.

In an email to the UnionTribu­ne on Monday, a PG&E spokespers­on said the state “has asked our views about eligibilit­y, but has not directed us to pursue Department of Energy funding,” implying the utility is awaiting orders from California officials.

Prior to the governor’s remarks, utility officials had made no indication they wanted to extend the plant’s license. In PG&E’s email, spokespers­on Suzanne Hosn said, “We are always open to considerin­g all options to ensure continued safe, reliable, and clean energy delivery to our customers.”

In 2016, PG&E made headlines when it announced it would not seek a 20-year license extension for Diablo Canyon. Instead, the utility reached an agreement with a collection of environmen­tal and labor groups to shutter the plant,

saying Diablo will become uneconomic­al to run due to the growth of renewable energy sources, increased energy efficiency measures and the migration of customers from traditiona­l utilities to community choice energy programs.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the proposed shutdown in 2018. Unit 1 is set to close in 2024, followed by Unit 2 in 2025.

David Weisman of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibi­lity, a group critical of nuclear power that took part in the PG&E agreement, said reversing course will be very difficult.

“I’m sure anyone who pursues this further will discover

there’s going to be a lot of weeds to dig through before this could become a reality,” Weisman said. “The (Public Utilities Commission) has already agreed to $3.9 billion for the decommissi­oning” of the plant.

When asked if his group would sue if the plant does not close as scheduled, Weisman said, “That could remain an option.”

There are also concerns about seismic activity and potential tsunamis in the area surroundin­g the plant, plus the long-term issue of where to store the spent fuel, or waste, that is generated by fission reactors. The federal government has yet to fully construct a storage repository for any of the nation’s

nuclear plants, much less Diablo’s.

Nuclear supporters say when states close reactors, too often the electricit­y that replaces them comes from increased use of fossil fuels, such as natural gas.

Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrou­gh Institute, an Oakland-based environmen­tal research center, said in a statement that “it’s time we reconsider the state’s ban on nuclear energy and embrace it as a clean, safe source of carbon-free energy. We won’t be able to meet our climate goals without it.”

In order to extend Diablo Canyon’s license, PG&E would need to go to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In an email to the

Union-Tribune, an NRC spokespers­on said since Diablo is set to start closing in two years, the plant’s operators would likely need to apply for a “timely renewal” to make sure there’s enough time to have the NRC review the applicatio­n appropriat­ely and make a decision.

The spokespers­on said the operators of two existing plants — one in Ohio and another in Illinois — originally had plans to close their facilities but received “timely renewal” exemptions from the NRC and are preparing to apply to keep their facilities open.

By itself, Diablo Canyon accounted for nearly 9 percent of California’s in-state electricit­y generation in 2020.

Diablo became the last remaining nuclear plant in California after the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station officially closed operations in 2013 following a steam generator leak.

San Onofre is in the third year of a scheduled eightyear dismantlem­ent project. Thus far, 27 structures have been razed, and about 100 million pounds of debris and waste have been shipped offsite, according to the plant’s operator, Southern California Edison.

 ?? JOE JOHNSTON THE TRIBUNE OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FILE VIA AP ?? The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach, the state’s last operating plant after San Onofre closed in 2013, is set for shutdown in 2024 and 2025.
JOE JOHNSTON THE TRIBUNE OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FILE VIA AP The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in Avila Beach, the state’s last operating plant after San Onofre closed in 2013, is set for shutdown in 2024 and 2025.

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