“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
Aug 15, 2024
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant on June 1, 2023. Laura Dickinson The Tribune
LLAW’s NUCLEAR ISSUES & COMMENTS, Thursday, (08/15/2024)
It will be interesting to see the eventual conclusion of this story. California needs to review the overall operating history of PG&E’s god-awful non-nuclear accidents and questionable operations and decide whether the risk of extending the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is considered feasible and worth the nearly one billion dollar “loan” to help operate the plant until 2030, while facing a $12 billion in operating costs for the remainder of the plant’s projected future beyond 2025, that will likely never be repaid considering the history of PG&E’s several bankruptcies from previous non-nuclear accidents, some of them lethal.
(I have reported their entire accident-prone history in previous blog posts, and I believe there is no reason to trust them for any practical reason, especially because the plant is dangerous from a nuclear standpoint, that the plant only produces 9% of California’s energy requirements, which could no doubt be covered by renewable resources, and the immense risks of continuing to operate the plant.
As a concerned Nevada next-door neighbor, Governor Newsom should consider the legislators’ second thoughts, and demand that the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant be shut down as scheduled in 2025. Even then may not be soon enough. ~llaw
California legislators break with Gov. Newsom over loan to keep state’s last nuclear plant running
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Updated Aug 15, 2024 1:37 p.m.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Legislature signaled its intent on Thursday to cancel a $400 million loan payment to help finance a longer lifespan for the state’s last nuclear power plant, exposing a rift with Gov. Gavin Newsom who says that the power is critical to safeguarding energy supplies amid a warming climate.
The votes in the state Senate and Assembly on funding for the twin-domed Diablo Canyon plant represented an interim step as Newsom and legislative leaders, all Democrats, continue to negotiate a new budget. But it sets up a public friction point involving one of the governor’s signature proposals, which he has championed alongside the state’s rapid push toward solar, wind and other renewable sources.
The dispute unfolded in Sacramento as environmentalists and antinuclear activists warned that the estimated price tag for keeping the seaside reactors running beyond a planned closing by 2025 had ballooned to nearly $12 billion, roughly doubling earlier projections. That also has raised the prospect of higher fees for ratepayers.
Operator Pacific Gas & Electric called those figures inaccurate and inflated by billions of dollars.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance, emphasized that budget negotiations are continuing and the legislative votes represented an “agreement between the Senate and the Assembly — not an agreement with the governor.”
The votes in the Legislature mark the latest development in a decades-long fight over the operation and safety of the plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Diablo Canyon, which began operating in the mid-1980s, produces up to 9% of the state’s electricity on any given day.
The fight over the reactors’ future is playing out as the long-struggling U.S. nuclear industry sees a potential rebirth in the era of global warming. Nuclear power doesn’t produce carbon pollution like fossil fuels, but it leaves behind waste that can remain dangerously radioactive for centuries.
A Georgia utility just finished the first two scratch-built American reactors in a generation at a cost of nearly $35 billion. The price tag for the expansion of Plant Vogtle from two of the traditional large reactors to four includes almost $17 billion in cost overruns. In Wyoming, Bill Gates and his energy company have started construction on a next-generation nuclear power plant that the tech titan believes will “revolutionize” how power is generated.
In 2016, PG&E, environmental groups and plant worker unions reached an agreement to close Diablo Canyon by 2025. But the Legislature voided the deal in 2022 at the urging of Newsom, who said the power is needed to ward off blackouts as a changing climate stresses the energy system. That agreement for a longer run included a $1.4 billion forgivable state loan for PG&E, to be paid in several installments.
California energy regulators voted in December to extend the plant’s operating run for five years, to 2030.
The legislators’ concerns were laid out in an exchange of letters with the Newsom administration, at a time when the state is trying to close an estimated $45 billion deficit. Among other concerns, they questioned if, and when, the state would be repaid by PG&E, and whether taxpayers could be out hundreds of millions of dollars if the proposed extension for Diablo Canyon falls through.
Construction at Diablo Canyon began in the 1960s. Critics say potential earthquakes from nearby faults not known to exist when the design was approved could damage equipment and release radiation. One fault was not discovered until 2008. PG&E has long said the plant is safe, an assessment the NRC has supported.
Last year, environmental groups called on federal regulators to immediately shut down one of two reactors at the site until tests can be conducted on critical machinery they believe could fail and cause a catastrophe. Weeks later, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took no action on the request and instead asked agency staff to review it.
The questions raised by environmentalists about the potential for soaring costs stemmed from a review of state regulatory filings submitted by PG&E, they said. Initial estimates of about $5 billion to extend the life of the plant later rose to over $8 billion, then nearly $12 billion, they said.
“It’s really quite shocking,” said attorney John Geesman, a former California Energy Commission member who represents the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, an advocacy group that opposes federal license renewals in California. The alliance told the state Public Utilities Commission in May that the cost would represent “by far the largest financial commitment to a single energy project the commission has ever been asked to endorse.”
PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn said the figures incorrectly included billions of dollars of costs unrelated to extending operations at the plant.
The company has pegged the cost at $8.3 billion, Hosn said, adding that “the financial benefits exceed the costs.”
___
This story has been updated to correct the amount of cost overruns to build two reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. It was almost $17 billion, not $11 billion.
Aug 15, 2024|Updated Aug 15, 2024 1:37 p.m.
MICHAEL R. BLOOD
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Thursday, (08/15/2024)
All Things Nuclear
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Seeking to discharge radioactive water from Pilgrim, Holtec will appeal denial by Monday deadline
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Just Security
… that is all but unusable. The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review announced: “The U.S. would only consider the use of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances
What if South Korea got a nuclear bomb? – The Economist
The Economist
Elites are less gung-ho about going nuclear than average voters … “And they’re really good in all aspects of engineering all things nuclear.
Nuclear Power
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Powering up nuclear energy: Nuclear’s make or break moment – YouTube
YouTube
CNBC’s Pippa Stevens joins ‘Squawk Box’ from Waynesboro, Georgia with a look at the first newly built U.S. nuclear reactors in 30 years.
Decision on second nuclear plant on to-do list for Belarus’s new energy minister
World Nuclear News
… energy minister, saying there is “plenty of work … particularly … regarding our plans to build or not to build a new nuclear power plant”. The …
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自然エネルギー財団 – 自然エネルギー財団
Positioning of nuclear power in Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Negative public sentiment toward …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
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Emergency alerts at Diablo Canyon CA nuclear power plant | San Luis Obispo Tribune
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant near Avila Beach, California, has reported eight emergency incidents to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission …
How Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant reports emergency events
San Luis Obispo Tribune
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission records incidents at power plants. Here’s a look at the types of events and how many have been recorded at …
Video: WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency – The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
3:16 · Ukraine and Russia trade blame over fire at nuclear power plant. Video 1:20 · Wildfire reaches Athens suburbs, forcing hundreds to evacuate.
Nuclear War
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Reluctantly, America will have to build more nuclear weapons – The Economist
The Economist
North Korea says it is “bolstering” its nuclear programme. This week Donald Trump claimed he would build an “Iron Dome” missile shield to protect …
Why Congress Shouldn’t Fund a New Sea-Launched Nuke – Just Security
Just Security
John Erath sends a clear message to U.S. Congress: Support a strong Navy and stop funding the Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile.
Iran Nuclear Explosions Likely? Nuke War Alarm Amid Anticipated Revenge On Israel …
YouTube
Iran is planning to carry out deadly nuclear explosions before an anticipated revenge attack on Israel. Amid heightened West Asia tensions, …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Reluctantly, America will have to build more nuclear weapons – The Economist
The Economist
The nuclear de-escalation that followed the cold war is over, the Pentagon warned this month. … Facing new nuclear threats will be a test for America, …
Local activist group raises alarm over governor’s comments on Pacific nuclear threat | News
Pacific Daily News
Comments by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero in an Aug. 6 interview with Radio New Zealand about the nuclear threat in the Pacific have drawn alarm from …
Putin’s nuclear threats proven hollow as Ukraine invades Russia, expert says
Euromaidan Press
Putin’s nuclear threats proven hollow as Ukraine invades Russia, expert says … war against Ukraine and Ukraine’s struggle to build a democratic