Diablo Canyon Extension Likely
Worldwide, the Paradigm Shift Is Toward Encouragement
On December 14, 2023, starting at 11:00 a.m., the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will likely approve the extension of operations at Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) at least until 2030. The plant will continue to produce the annual equivalent of five Hoover Dams of safe clean power for Californians. Meeting details are here. [i] You may also leave written comments here. [ii] As of December 7, there are 366 comments.
Some area nonprofits such as Californians for Green Nuclear Power (https://CGNP.org) provided strong legal advocacy before the CPUC, making 100+ filings since 2016. Since 2013, I’ve spent in excess of 20,000 hours advocating for extended DCPP operations. Both Mothers for Nuclear (MfN) (https://www.mothersfornuclear.org/) and CGNP host informative websites.
One of the significant changes has been reduced opposition to extended operation. CPUC’s previous Diablo Canyon Proceeding had 55 parties, with only CGNP supporting extension. The current CPUC Proceeding has only 15 parties, with the majority supporting extended DCPP operations.
Thinking back just seven years ago, an approval prediction would have been improbable. Fossil fuel interests clamoring to sell more fossil fuels combined with organizations doctrinally opposed to nuclear power were eagerly anticipating a 2025 shutdown of Diablo Canyon.
Nuclear power has benefited from a worldwide paradigm shift toward encouragement. COP 28 advances nuclear. Nuclear power generation causes only small amounts of lifecycle air and water pollution, comparable to that from solar per unit of power.
Environmental concerns about the larger amounts of air pollution from natural gas-fired generation and air and water pollution from coal-fired generation contributed to this shift. Nuclear plants are compact, unlike solar or wind installations. See if you can find DCPP in this view from space. [iii]
Another reason for the shift is nuclear power’s strong worldwide safety record. In a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, nuclear power is among the safest forms of power generation per unit of power. It’s far safer than coal or natural gas. It’s safer than large hydroelectric dams. In over 66 years of commercial nuclear generation, there have been zero deaths from radiation. That includes the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island. When three reactors melted down at Fukushima dai-ichi in 2011, no one died from that plant’s radiation. (Over 18,000 died from the magnitude 9+ earthquake and tsunami.) According to UNSCEAR, about 100 excess deaths from radiation were the result of the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. [iv] Such an accident would not occur in the West since our safety standards require reactors be placed within a robust reinforced concrete containment, which was lacking at Chernobyl.
Diablo Canyon provides significant economic benefits. The plant is the largest regional private sector employer. Most are well-paying head-of-household jobs. A 2013 study from the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly SLO estimated the direct and indirect regional economic benefits of Diablo Canyon were about a billion dollars per year. In 2018, Lawrence Berkeley Labs and Nexant estimated that Diablo Canyon’s safe, abundant, and reliable power supports $281 billion in annual California economic activity.
One of the significant reasons for keeping Diablo Canyon running is its unsurpassed annual reliability — about 90 percent of the time. The plant runs day or night, wind or calm, flood or drought. Veteran California energy attorney Dan Douglass observed during oral arguments four weeks ago at CPUC headquarters: “As the proposed decision states, this is an exceptional case where the legislature believes DCPP is of the utmost importance to maintaining system reliability … Diablo Canyon has twin reactors running about 18 months at a time before refueling and maintenance. The outages last about 10% of the running time. The outages are non-overlapping, so the plant typically provides power for many years without interruption.”
[i] https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/events-and-meetings/cpuc-voting-meeting-2023-12-14 The agenda item is number 49. Callers will be allowed one minute.
[ii] Please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov/docket Input the proceeding number R.23-01-007, then click on the public comment tab. Please confirm your humanity.
[iii] tinyurl.com/DCPP-From-Space
[iv] “How big was Chernobyl, how many people died, and how far did the damage extend? Map of fallout” Greg Heilman, Update: Mar 4th, 2022. AS (English). https://en.as.com/en/2022/03/04/latest_news/1646395790_700095.html
CGNP and MfN aren’t supported by the nuclear power industry. Gene Nelson is a former professor at Cal Poly SLO and Cuesta College.
