Longer life for Diablo Canyon? Newsom promotes the extension of nuclear weapons

Los Angeles (AFP) – Facing a potential electricity shortage, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday raised the possibility that the state’s only remaining nuclear power plant could continue operating beyond a planned shutdown by 2025, an idea that could revive A battle that went on for decades. Earthquake safety on site.

The Democratic governor has no direct authority over the operating license for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which is located on a coastal cliff over the Pacific Ocean midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. But the governor floated the idea that plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric might seek a share of $6 billion in federal funding created by the Biden administration to rescue nuclear plants at risk of closure.

“The governor supports keeping all options on the table to ensure we have a reliable (electricity) grid,” spokeswoman Erin Mellon said. “That includes looking at extending Diablo Canyon, which remains an important resource as we transition to clean energy.”

PG&E, which decided in 2016 to close the plant by 2025, has not directly addressed Newsom’s proposal or said whether the company would consider reversing course to seek federal dollars to remain open beyond the scheduled closure.

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

Newsom’s office emphasized that “for the long term,” the governor continues to support closing Diablo Canyon as the state transitions to renewable energy. Newsom first revealed the idea to the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board.

PG&E announced the shutdown plan as part of a deal with environmentalists and union workers in 2016, citing “the recognition that California’s new energy policies will dramatically reduce the need for Diablo Canyon electricity.” But Newsom’s proposal highlights that thinking has changed, as the state searches for reliable energy sources amid a changing global climate, while California is gradually turning to solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.

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

Newsom’s proposal 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 concern about inflation, homelessness and rising crime. Republicans routinely attack Newsom for problems with state power.

Any proposal to extend the plant’s operating life is sure to revive a widespread battle over plant safety and will involve complex reviews by a range of state and federal agencies.

Problems at Diablo Canyon range from a long-running debate about the structures’ ability to withstand earthquakes — a single fault extending 650 yards (594 meters) from the reactors — to the possibility that state regulators will order PG&E to spend the potential billions. Of dollars to modify or replace the factory’s cooling system, which sucks up ocean water and is accused of killing fish and other marine life.

Even before the two twin reactors could produce one 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 at Diablo Canyon urged regulators to shut down the plant so they could determine if the twin reactors could withstand the strong vibrations from nearby earthquake faults. The organizers later rejected the request.

Eric Beca, 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 a lieutenant to the governor – was part of the effort to shut down the plant, Becca added, “It’s surprising.”

Research by scientists at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concludes that delaying the retirement of Diablo Canyon until 2035 will save $2.6 billion in California energy system costs, reduce the chances of power outages and reduce carbon emissions. When the research was presented in November, former US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu said the nation was not in a near-term position to go 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 United States, or about half of the country’s carbon-free energy.

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Writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to the Associated Press in Providence, Rhode Island.

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