Award-Winning UCLA Earthquake Scientist Files Declaration to the NRC Requesting Shutdown of Diablo Canyon.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – MAY 15, 2025 – A leading earthquake expert has called for the immediate shutdown of California’s last operating nuclear power plant, warning that a proposed decision by the NRC dismissing seismic risks at Diablo Canyon is incomplete and illogical and fails to address significant evidence that seismic risks are too high to meet federal safety standards.
In a formal declaration submitted today to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Petition Review Board (PRB), Dr. Peter Bird, Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at UCLA, states that continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) presents “an unacceptable risk of a serious earthquake-caused accident,” and that the NRC is obligated to shut it down under its own safety guidelines.
Dr. Bird’s declaration criticized the NRC for refusing to open an enforcement proceeding sought a year ago by environmental organizations. Instead, the NRC parroted unsupported and illogical claims by PG&E that the reactors are safe to operate and ignored Dr. Bird’s strong evidence and analysis demonstrating that the risk of an earthquake-caused core damage accident at DCPP is high enough to warrant immediate shutdown under the NRC’s own guidance.
“I continue to hold the view that the risk of a serious earthquake-caused accident at DCPP is unacceptable, and that immediate shutdown is warranted under NRC’s existing guidelines,” wrote Dr. Bird, a globally recognized authority in earthquake modeling with nearly five decades of experience.
Submitted on behalf of petitioners San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (SLOMFP), Friends of the Earth (FoE) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Dr. Bird’s declaration criticized the NRC for failing to conduct a competent and independent review of “grave concerns regarding the severe risk of an earthquake-induced accident during continued operation of Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors.”
Dr. Peter Bird now serves as Professor of Geophysics and Geology, Emeritus at UCLA with 49 years of experience in seismic activity and earthquake modeling. Holding a doctorate in Geophysics from MIT, Dr. Bird is the founding architect of the Global Earthquake Activity Model (2015).
The Bird declaration to the NRC warns that PG&E’s modeling for seismic activity “assumes that a majority of large earthquakes affecting Diablo Canyon are strike-slip and disregards the significant contribution of thrust faulting earthquake sources under the Diablo Canyon site.”
The nuclear reactors at Diablo Canyon, owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), were slated to close in 2024 and 2025 when its operating licenses were set to retire because the plants would eventually become “too expensive to operate” compared to available renewable energy resources. The “Joint Proposal” to shut Diablo Canyon, signed by environmental groups, unions, and PG&E was certified by the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in 2018. It did not address the unacceptably high risk for a seismic-induced reactor meltdown. However, the reactors’ licenses were extended after California Governor Gavin Newsom brokered a deal with PG&E, offering a $1.4 billion taxpayer-funded subsidy to keep the DCPP operational.
Hallie Templeton, an attorney for FoE, said: “Allowing Diablo Canyon to operate without a competent and independent review of the seismic risks addressed in the petition puts millions of California residents in danger and risks a major radioactive disaster, akin to Fukushima, along the California coast. PG&E can’t say they haven’t been warned.”
Diane Curran, legal counsel for SLOMFP, said: “We are very disappointed with the NRC’s proposed decision to allow DCPP to keep operating without a full review of the significant seismic risk to the reactors. It would be irrational and irresponsible for the NRC to permit PG&E to operate DCPP, especially with an aging and deteriorating Unit 1 reactor vessel, without addressing the concerns brought forward by one of the world’s top seismic experts. Listen to the science!”
Bernadette Del Chiaro, Senior Vice President, California at EWG, said: “The potential environmental and human health consequences of a major radioactive disaster along the California coast, similar to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi incident, are simply unacceptable. It is imperative that all possible precautions are taken to ensure the structural integrity and operational safety of a nuclear facility located in an area with ‘unacceptable risk of earthquakes. The risks highlighted in the petition warrant an unbiased and expert evaluation to determine the true extent of the potential dangers to Californians. To keep Diablo open without this crucial review would place countless lives in jeopardy.”