Longer life for Diablo Canyon? Newsom touts nuclear extension


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Facing possible power outages, California Gov. Gavin Newsom raised Friday the possibility of the state’s only remaining nuclear power plant continuing to operate beyond a planned 2025 shutdown, a idea that could revive a decades-long fight for seismic safety at the site.

The Democratic governor has no direct authority over the operating license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which sits on a seaside bluff above the Pacific midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. But the governor floated the idea that the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas & Electric, could seek a share of $6 billion in federal funds that the Biden administration set up to bail out nuclear plants at risk of shutting down.

“The governor supports keeping all options on the table to ensure we have a reliable (electric) grid,” spokeswoman Erin Mellon said. “This includes considering an extension to Diablo Canyon, which continues to be an important resource as we transition to clean energy.”

PG&E, which in 2016 decided to close the plant by 2025, did not directly address Newsom’s suggestion or say whether the company would consider reversing course to seek federal dollars to stay open beyond the scheduled closure.

“We are always open to considering all options to ensure the continued supply of safe, reliable and clean energy to our customers,” PG&E spokeswoman Suzanne Hosn said in an email.

Newsom’s office stressed that “for the long term,” the governor continues to support closing Diablo Canyon as the state moves toward renewable energy. Newsom first disclosed the idea to the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times.

PG&E announced the closure plan as part of an agreement with environmentalists and unionized workers in 2016, citing an “acknowledgment that California’s new energy policies will significantly reduce Diablo Canyon’s need for electricity production.” But Newsom’s suggestion highlights that thinking has changed, as the state seeks reliable energy sources amid a changing global climate, while California gradually shifts to solar, wind and other renewables.

Skeptics have questioned whether California’s comprehensive renewable plan can work in a state of nearly 40 million people.

Newsom’s suggestion comes at a time when President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have fallen sharply, and as the governor seeks a second term in Sacramento amid widespread voter distress over inflation, homelessness and rising of crime rates. Republicans routinely blame Newsom for the state’s energy problems.

Any proposal to extend the plant’s operating life is sure to reignite a lengthy battle over the plant’s safety and would involve complex reviews by a host of state and federal agencies.

The issues at stake at Diablo Canyon range from a prolonged debate over the structures’ ability to withstand earthquakes (one fault stretches 650 yards (594 meters) from the reactors) to the possibility that state regulators will order PG&E to spend potentially billions of dollars to modify or replace the plant’s cooling system, which sucks in ocean water and has been blamed for killing fish and other marine life.

The plant’s ability to store additional spent fuel from the reactors is also unclear. Highly radioactive waste is kept in nuclear plants, as the nation does not have a long-term disposal site.

Even before the twin reactors produced a single watt of electricity, the plant had to be modernized after a submerged fault was discovered 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) offshore during construction.

In 2014, the former chief federal inspector for Diablo Canyon urged regulators to shut down the plant until they can determine whether the twin reactors can withstand strong shaking from nearby earthquake faults. Regulators later rejected the request.

Erich Pica, president of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, which was part of the deal to phase out the plant, said he was “disappointed that he (Newsom) wants to reopen this conversation.”

Given that Newsom, then as lieutenant governor, was part of the effort to close the plant, “it’s surprising,” Pica added.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which was also part of the agreement to close the plant, believes that Diablo Canyon would not be eligible for federal rescue funds.

“The widely supported deal to decommission and replace the plant…has been upheld by multiple state and federal regulators,” said Ralph Cavanagh of NRDC.

Newsom’s idea was welcomed by the American Nuclear Society, which represents professionals in nuclear science and technology. Diablo Canyon “has an essential role to play in California’s clean and secure energy future,” the group said.

Research by scientists at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that delaying the removal of Diablo Canyon until 2035 would save California $2.6 billion in power system costs, reduce the chance of blackouts, and reduce emissions. of carbon. When the research was presented in November, former US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the nation is not positioned any time soon to move to 100% renewable energy.

There are 55 commercial nuclear power plants with 93 nuclear reactors in 28 US states. Nuclear power already provides about 20% of the electricity in the US, or about half of the nation’s carbon-free energy.

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Associated Press reporter Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed.



Reference-apnews.com

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