Radioactive Waste
High level radioactive waste is stored at Diablo Canyon in pools and in dry casks. Mothers for Peace is currently in litigation regarding the dry cask storage facility and the potential impact of terrorism on the surrounding environment. (Also see 'security and terrorism.')
Since February of 2014 members of SLO Mothers for Peace have periodically taken samples of ocean water from just south of the Pismo Pier and sent those samples to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to be tested for radioactive content. Ten of these samples have been taken so far with the last sample showing a dramatic increase in Cesium 137 (Cs137) from the previous sample taken in July 2017.
Two members of the local non-profit, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, will join with representatives of dozens of environmental organizations in Chicago, IL March 16 – 18, 2018 to explore options for both short-term and long-term storage of radioactive wastes. These lethal by-products of energy production and weapons have been accumulating at nuclear plants, uranium mines and mills, and nuclear weapons complexes for decades.
In August of 2016 Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) , along with six labor and environmental groups, filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) a joint proposal to shut down the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant by 2025. The parties to the joint proposal were PG&E, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, the Coalition of California Utility Employees, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment California and the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility. The CPUC made its Final Decision on the conditions of plant closure on January 11, 2018.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace has invited two experts in nuclear waste management and transportation to inform the local public about the options for storing Diablo Canyon’s spent fuel.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace urges the NRC to order Diablo Canyon and all nuclear plants in the United States to use safer, thick-walled canisters for the storage of high level radioactive wastes. Currently the NRC allows canisters with walls only 1/2 to 2/3 of an inch in thickness, whereas in Germany and Japan the casks are between 6 and 9 inches thick.
This document describes high level radioactive waste in general, the way such waste is currently stored at Diablo Canyon, and national policy on long-term storage and "disposal" of radioactive wastes. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is planning to shut down Diablo in the near future, but the radioactive wastes will remain on site for the foreseeable future - decades or possibly centuries to come.
written and presented by Molly Johnson, October 20, 2017
Slideshow presentation by Molly Johnson, October 20, 2017
DIABLO CANYON’S RADIOACTIVE WASTE: current and future challenges of storage and transportation An educational series to be presented by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, with expert speakers from San Onofre, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.
The California Public Utilities Commission has a great opportunity in its oversight of Diablo Canyon’s closure. PG&E must store 2,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste on a fault-ridden coastline. Currently, the waste in the dry cask storage is sealed in half-inch thick stainless steel canisters inside concrete overpacking affixed to huge concrete slabs, easily visible from the air and sea.
Sherry Lewis, Board member of San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, delivered this statement and argument for early closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant at the CPUC public meeting in San Luis Obispo on September 14, 2017.
The following is the message of Linda Seeley to the California Public Utilities Commission at a public meeting in San Luis Obispo in September, 2017. Her topic is on-site storage of radioactive waste at Diablo Canyon.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (MFP) applauds PG&E for its decision to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. However, our organization asserts that it would be in the best interests of the ratepayers and the citizens of California if the shut-down date were moved forward to 2019/2020, rather than the 2024/2025 dates proposed by PG&E.
The following are documentary recommendations.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace is a party to the California Public Utilities Commission proceeding A1608006, in which Pacific Gas and Electric Company has filed its Joint Proposal to shut down Diablo in 2025 when both operating licenses will expire. Mothers for Peace contends that the plant should close in 2019, thereby avoiding problems related to safety, reliability and costs.
On June 21, 2016, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced a Proposal to shut down Diablo Canyon nuclear plant at the end of its current licensing period and to bring renewables on-line. There were a number of organizations that joined with PG&E to work out this plan: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, Coalition of California UtilityEmployees, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment California, and Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (SLOMFP) is pleased that on June 21, 2016 Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced plans to withdraw its application for license renewal for the two reactors at Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. The current licenses expire in 2024 and 2025. PG&E’s proposal secures a date certain for the final shutdown of the last nuclear plant in the state of California. Since 2009, when PG&E submitted its license renewal application to the NRC, SLOMFP has opposed the operation of Diablo Canyon on safety and environmental grounds.
In 2016 there are an increasing number of stories and opinion pieces in news media distorting the facts about nuclear power. Mothers for Peace Board Member Molly Johnson sets the record straight on several environmental concerns and safety issues.
California Senator Bill Monning has put before the California Senate SB 968. Mothers for Peace appreciates his intentions to prepare for the economic impacts of the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in the event that it goes off-line before its current licenses expire in 2024 and 2025. However, in order to benefit the workers at the plant and the people of the central coast, we strongly suggest amendments.
In 2016 the Department of Energy (DOE) held eight public meetings around the country on the Department’s consent-based siting initiative for facilities to manage the nation’s nuclear waste. The DOE is planning siting facilities to store, transport, and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.