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PG&E takes first step to extend life of Diablo Canyon

November 1, 2022

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

PG&E filed a request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday to extend its operating licenses for the reactors at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

The operating licenses for the two reactors at Diablo Canyon are set to expire in 2024 and 2025. PG&E had been planning on shutting down the nuclear power plant at the conclusion of those terms, but the utility has since received backing from both federal and state officials for extending the operating life of Diablo Canyon.

At the end of August and beginning of September, California lawmakers passed a bill calling to extend the operating life of Diablo Canyon by five years, pushing back its closure from 2025 to 2030. Introduced by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and co-authored by Central Coast Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, a Republican, Senate Bill 864 calls for the state of California to lend PG&E up to $1.4 billion to facilitate the extension of Diablo Canyon’s operating period.

PG&E needs to obtain license renewals from the NRC, as well as regulatory approval from other federal and state agencies in order to keep operating the plant past 2025. The request PG&E submitted on Monday marks the first step toward renewing its operating licenses.

“We are proud of the role Diablo Canyon plays in providing safe, reliable, low-cost and carbon-free energy to our customers and Californians,” Paula Gerfen, PG&E’s Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, said in a statement. “This request to renew our licenses is another step to help California reliably achieve its bold decarbonization goals. We will help deliver on those goals while continuing to run one of the top performing plants in the country.”


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Newsome gets lobbying contributions from PGE. Private and public nuclear was supposed to have a storage facility:?; Guess where they wanted it, on a reservation tribal land; in the 70s. We still do not have it. No hope for nuclear until then.


-1

In the spirit of Trick or Treat, PG&E paying the County of SLO as mitigation for lost revenue due to their closure would be like a vampire offering to manage a blood bank.


Only Adam Hill and his gang members could see daylight in that nightmare. No disrespect to the fallen, I just have to remind myself how the so called smart people can fund time and taxes to entertain illusions and for what reason, waste your money for their fame?


2

Am I bad, I was reflecting on the $80 million laboriously discussed, wasting time and money for a stupid idea that was never going to happen, yet the (?) gang was salivating over their ideas for that fake money.


2

Now is the time to build a large desalination plant (50-100 million gallons a day) adjacent to the plant and use the power and infrastructure to provide water efficiently, economically and consistently. It’s the water people !!!


26

The scary part now about Diablo Canyon is that PG&E has become so dysfunctional the last four or so years. They don’t maintain their equipment. They just wait till the dilapidated equipment fails or causes a fire. I’ve been waiting 6 months for Plunder Gouge & Extortion to reconnect power from my temp power pole to a completed residence in Madera County. They say they need to replace the transformer because it’s at 100% capacity.


-20

Sierra Vista has documents of Isotopes in babies teeth from the start and continuation Diablo due to legal discharge which causes or increases every and all types of cancer; “nuclear watch commission”. Fact. not including pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer and the destroyed Slo county water basin now filled with PFAS carcinogens that cause cancer, costing us billions locally on our dime, Slo having the most locally due to the Airport and oil fields on Tank Farm Road. if this is refuted, this is against the oath of Journalism. I may make fake claims like many here, but this is real, minus the double fault line, and discharge into the ocean and air killing mass biology including eel grass, clams etc. ignore the psychopaths not stating facts using politics/ religion and hatred and propaganda as a means of distraction. Google it all. This is Cal Poly/ Cuesta sense data. Built off of cancer. Put American made solar panels on your house, DIY and don’t be lazy, build a battery pack like an YouTube idiot and save us from Nuclear Holocaust like Fukushima and Chernobyl. Dear God. One mistake and billions lost in ecology, life and nature and fake property stolen from the natives of 10k years. The devil is real.


-20

A sad day for those of us who protested the opening of this plant many years ago. Many of us are dead now, including Dr. Bill Deneen, who preached the sustainable living gospel for years. Jackson Browne is still alive and his song Before the Deluge remains relevant today.


Anyway, I get it. As we transition to a low-emissions future, we will need Diablo at least until the 2030’s. Let’s hope the earthquake faults under the plant—at least three that we are aware of—stay quiet.


-50

A great day for the county and the state. Bi-Partisan support from both sides of the isle to keep it open. The sustaining of families, homes and living wage jobs for the next ten years.

Always have hope, and not live in fear. Life is too short for that.


32

Agreed. And I would add a carbon reduced future which will be good for everyone. If CARB’s plan is ultimately effective, Diablo will be phased out in about 2035 when the state will have transitioned to totally sustainable energy sources.


Yes, I’m very hopeful that Cali will be a better place to live after I’m dead and buried. We’re already now the 4th largest economy in the world. Love it!


-32

The total transitions are a dream. It’s not possible and still have a quality of life so many are used to.

California will be a better place when the Democrats are reigned in politically. When that happens, we’ll be the 2nd largest economy behind only the nation’s economy. Why settle and be comfortable as 4th largest. Again, there is hope, but only in reality, not dreams of utopia.


12

“when the Democrats are reigned in” Kinky.


No doubt what DePape was thinking with the zipties.


-16

Carb is nothing but a scam, look at all the ways it extorts money from the taxpayer and the phony programs it has going on, the constraints put on diesel engines because of carb have done nothing for the climate but have caused nothing but grief for the owners of heavy equipment and less efficinecy for a gallon of fuel, the cap and trade program is nothing but a money grab and does no good what so ever, anything carb touches falls apart it is no better than the Govt it works in. Also don’t forget it is not a state agency it is no better than the coastal commission.


14

Agreed, let them eat isotope cake and a 45 Mile fallout zone and suffer cancerous deaths as we all will, unless you’re rich, you just fly away in a helicopter or private jet outa Slo or Paso. Fk the rich around here, and the politicians, desecrating our land and killing our future in no time as if it was their plan. With irony.


-14