The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold two public meetings this month with Diablo Canyon Power Plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) in San Luis Obispo. The meetings will cover issues related to the operation of the nuclear power plant, and its possible license extension, according to NRC spokesperson Victor Dricks.
The first meeting was Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Embassy Suites.
Prior to the meeting, Dricks said officials from PG&E were scheduled to present the results of an analysis they did with the U.S. Geological Survey on a fault discovered in 2008. The fault is located about a half-mile off the shore from the plant and is known as the Shoreline Fault.
“PG&E as our licensee is required to maintain a long-term seismic program (LTSP) and analyze any new information that comes to light that could have an impact on the plant,” Dricks said.
Other faults to be discussed in the analysis are the Hosgri, Los Osos and San Luis Bay, none of which pose seismic threats to the power plant, according to PG&E spokesperson Kory Raftery.
“(The study) found all those faults fell within safety margins,” Raftery said. “Diablo Canyon was constructed to withstand much more movement than those faults can produce.”
Raftery said seismic studies of the region will continue because it is part of their long-term program that will continue until the plant closes, and as a nuclear facility, it prides itself in its transparency about safety to the public.
Therefore, the meeting was formatted so information from the report was given in detail by PG&E, followed by the NRC asking questions and then the public asking questions.
The second meeting will be Jan. 27 at the Courtyard by Marriott in San Luis Obispo to discuss the proposed license extension of the two Diablo Canyon reactors, Units 1 and 2.
PG&E began the license extension process for both units in November 2009. The current operating licenses will expire in 2024 and 2025, respectively. If licenses are extended, both units will operate for 20 additional years.
“The license extension is a pretty long process,” Raftery said. “One step is going over safety, and that’s what will happen at this meeting.”
Dricks said he will be attending the second meeting on behalf of the NRC, where they will “verify PG&E has programs in place to manage affects on aging of plant systems, structures and components for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration dates,” he said.
When looking at the impact Diablo Canyon has on the energy production in California, some say it may be in the best interest to support the license extension.
At any given time, the two reactors produce about 2,300 megawatts of energy, provide 10 percent of the state’s energy and roughly 20 percent of PG&E’s energy mix, Raftery said.
This is enough power to provide nearly three million central and northern California homes and businesses with energy. This is energy which doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses as a bi-product and is a good base of clean, renewable energy, Raftery said.
When weighing the pros and cons of nuclear power, head of the natural resources management department Douglas Piirto said some proportion of our total energy needs to come from nuclear power if were concerned about climate change.
“If the power doesn’t come from Diablo Canyon, then it would have to come from coal or oil; and then you would have to calculate the carbon admissions from the coal and oil,” Piirto said. “The air pollution maybe doesn’t look so bad now.”
Piirto said the license extension makes sense in this case, and the real issues with power plants, in general, come from the disposal of nuclear waste. However, he said this is the federal government’s fault because they require all nuclear waste to be stored on site.
“We are saddling the Central Coast with all the nuclear waste, when this coast has allowed the nuclear plant to be here,” Piirto said. “The federal government has let us down, and we need to get on this issue about what to do with nuclear waste.”