(task) PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant - LA Times

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> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-diablo-canyon-nuclear-20160621-snap-story.html <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-diablo-canyon-nuclear-20160621-snap-story.html>
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> PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California's last nuclear power plant
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> California’s last nuclear power plant will be phased out by 2025, under a joint proposal announced Tuesday morning by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and labor and environmental groups.
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> Under the proposal, the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County would be retired by PG&E after its current Nuclear Regulatory Commission </topic/environmental-issues/environmental-politics/u.s.-nuclear-regulatory-commission-ORGOV000259-topic.html> operating licenses expire in November 2024 and August 2025.
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> The power produced by Diablo Canyon’s two nuclear reactors would be replaced with investment in a greenhouse-gas-free portfolio of energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage, PG&E said in a statement.
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> The proposal is contingent on a number of regulatory actions, including approvals from the California Public Utilities Commission.
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> The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, built against a seaside cliff near Avila Beach, provides electricity for Central and Northern California. It produces about 2,160 megawatts — enough to power some 1.7 million homes.
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> Tuesday’s announcement comes after a long debate over the fate of the plant, which sits near several earthquake fault lines. The Hosgri Fault, located three miles from Diablo Canyon, was discovered in 1971, three years after construction of the plant began.
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> Calls to close Diablo Canyon escalated after a 2011 quake in Japan damaged two reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant there, leading to dangerous radiation leaks. In the aftermath of that disaster, state and federal lawmakers called for immediate reviews of Diablo Canyon and the San Onofre nuclear plant in San Diego County, which was also still in use.
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> "Our two plants need immediate inspections and investigations, and they need to look at the increased risk of serious earthquakes, an increased risk of tsunamis and at the safety cultures at those plants," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said at the time, noting that nearly half a million people lived within 50 miles of Diablo Canyon.
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> The San Onofre plant was shut down for good in 2013 as a result of faulty equipment that led to a small release of radioactive steam and a heated regulatory battle over the plant's license.
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> The same year, a former inspector called for Diablo Canyon to be closed <http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-diablo-canyon-earthquake-20140825-story.html> until risks posed by potential earthquakes there could be evaluated. In documents submitted to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission as recently as last year, PG&E said Diablo Canyon can safely withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and flooding. Officials said the safety testing also took into consideration the effect a quake on one fault would have on the other three fault lines in the area.
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> Daniel Hirsch, director of the program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz, said the proposal announced Tuesday was thoughtful.
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> “It is not simply a decision to phase out the plant, but to replace it with efficiency and renewables,” he said. “So it is a very strong net gain for the environment.”
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> As the state boosts its energy efficiency goals and plans for renewables, including solar and wind power, Hirsch said, Diablo Canyon is “getting in the way.”
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> “It can’t alter the amount of power it produces, so on a day when a lot of solar energy is produced, or wind, we have to shut some of that [renewable energy production] down because we can’t turn down Diablo,” he said.
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> PG&E Chief Executive Tony Earley </topic/arts-culture/literature/tony-earley-PECLB00000161229-topic.html> also acknowledged the the changing landscape in California, noting that energy efficiency, renewables and storage are “central to the state’s energy policy.”
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> “As we make this transition, Diablo Canyon’s full output will no longer be required,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
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> Hirsch tempered his approval with caution, saying that as long as the plant remains in operation, safety risks remain.
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> “Diablo really does pose a clear and present danger,” he said. “If we had an earthquake larger than the plant was designed for, you could have a Fukushima-type event that could devastate a large part of California. We have to get lucky for the next eight years, but the risks are massively reduced by not having to face that risk thereafter.”
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> Staff writer Ivan Penn contributed to this report.
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> UPDATES:
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> 8:24 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from UC Santa Cruz’s Daniel Hirsch and PG&E chief Tony Earley and with additional background information.
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> 7:49 a.m.: This article was updated with background information.
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> This article was originally published at 7:15 a.m.