Post-Fukushima Developments
According to Victor Dricks, senior public affairs officer for NRC Region IV, the Commission conducted a nationwide review of nuclear power plants for their capacity to respond to earthquakes, power outages and other catastrophic events, and Diablo was found to have "a high level of preparedness and strong capability in terms of equipment and procedures to respond to severe events."
On June 2, 2011, the NRC announced that it would delay the environmental part of the relicensing application but that it had completed the safety portion. A few days later, the Atomic Safety Licensing Board indicated that it would defer adjustment of the adjudicatory schedule of the four contentions brought by SLOMFP, a community based organization, accordingly. The ASLB made no findings regarding the merits of the contentions. Both parties to the dispute claim these developments as victories: Pacific Gas and Electric as well as San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace.
S. David Freeman, a former general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, says that California is leading the way to a renewable energy future, and there is no place in that future for nuclear power, which he says is the "most expensive and dangerous source of energy on Earth". According to Freeman, Diablo Canyon and San Onofre are both "disasters waiting to happen: aging, unreliable reactors sitting near earthquake fault zones on the fragile Pacific Coast, with millions or hundreds of thousands of Californians living nearby".
In an effort to continue operating a nuclear plant that sits on known active earthquake faults, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is seeking permits to engage in seismic reflection surveying off the Central Coast of California.
Read more about this topic: Diablo Canyon Power Plant
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