Item 31 Submittal of a presentation by Tom Jones with PG&E regarding Senate Bill 846 and the extended operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace is deeply concerned and gravely disappointed by actions taken by the majority of this Board, Governor Newsom, and the California legislators who voted in favor of extending the operation of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Although Mothers for Peace was not a party to the Settlement Agreement to close the plant by 2025, it has been anticipating its closure, participating in decommissioning and waste storage activities, and supporting the orderly, well-planned closure process. In fact, Linda Seeley, one of our board members, is on the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Engagement Panel.
Mothers for Peace objects to:
- PG&E’s abdication of the Joint Settlement closure agreement of 2018, breaking the good-faith agreement among all parties;
- The billions of dollars in tax and ratepayer money being spent on revitalizing this aging plant – federal, state, and local monies. This money would be much better spent on replacing the dangerous energy from Diablo Canyon with clean energy resources, battery storage, and transmission infrastructure upgrades;
- the lack of accurate, reliable and unbiased analysis of the projected need for Diablo’s energy beyond 2025 and an accurate analysis of the projected renewable energy and battery storage resources that will come on line to replace Diablo by 2025;
- the lack of an accurate comparison of cost to California tax and ratepayers for energy from renewable sources vs. energy coming from Diablo Canyon;
- the easy dismissal of very real safety issues involving the extended operation of the plant: seismic and accident risk, aging and degrading systems and components, a diminished workforce, Unit 1’s embrittled reactor vessel, and numerous delayed maintenance items;
- the waiver of any California Environmental Quality Act review during the relicensing process;
- the continued use of the now unlawful once-through cooling system, continuing the great harm to the local marine environment and sea life;
- the generation of even more toxic high level radioactive waste to be stored for an indeterminate amount of time in the vicinity of multiple significant earthquake faults;
- the lack of space on the current spent fuel pad to accommodate more dry casks, thereby keeping the spent fuel pools operating at great expense and great risk.
Mothers for Peace is confounded by the Board of Supervisors’ role overseeing the decommissioning process – and yet promoting extended operation. Mothers for Peace urges the Board to remain vigilant to the complex decisions and issues to be resolved in the entirety of this resurrection process and to hold public safety as your guiding principle.