Environmental groups Thursday demanded the federal government immediately shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant, stating in a petition filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that until tests are conducted on critical components, there is risk of “nuclear meltdown.”
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant reactors were scheduled to shutter in 2025, but California reversed course last year and is now considering running the plant located along the state’s central coast until at least the end of the decade. Nuclear reactors — long a target of environmental advocates concerned about the possibility of radioactive meltdowns — emit almost no pollutants and have increasingly been seen as a salve for governments seeking to address climate change and curb the use of fossil fuels.
The protesting organizations, Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace, stated in Thursday’s petition that inspections on the Unit 1 reactor’s pressure vessel, meaning the thick steel containers that hold nuclear fuel, at Diablo Canyon have been delayed for nearly 20 years, posing grave public safety concerns. The plant’s operator, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), has instead relied on data from similar reactor vessels, the groups argue.
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The groups seek to halt the use of the Unit 1 reactor until there is “comprehensive testing and inspection,” using ultrasound equipment and other tests of the pressure vessel’s structural integrity. The test results should be provided to federal regulators and to the public, and a hearing should be held before resuming operations, the petition states.
The petition included a 46-page report by Digby Macdonald, a University of California at Berkeley professor in nuclear engineering and materials science, who wrote that continued operation of the Unit 1 reactor “poses an unreasonable risk to public health and safety due to serious indications of an unacceptable degree of embrittlement.”
Embrittlement refers to the gradual weakening of the reactor vessel due to neutron radiation, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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“We will not sit idly by while PG&E and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rubber stamp and streamline Diablo Canyon’s extension,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director at Friends of the Earth. “Our latest filing targets unlawful, delayed inspections of the nuclear power plant’s crumbling, dangerous pressure vessel.”
“This petition is part of a comprehensive legal strategy to ensure that people and the planet are not put at risk of a nuclear meltdown while PG&E profits in the billions,” Templeton added.
PG&E stated that the company is in “full compliance” with regulatory standards.
“Safety is the top responsibility at PG&E and Diablo Canyon. The plant has an excellent safe operating record, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s current assessment places it among the highest performing plants in the nation,” said Suzanne Hosn, a PG&E spokesperson.
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Analysis has demonstrated that the reactor vessels for both reactors meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s criteria, Hosn said. “PG&E intends to remove another capsule from Unit 1 for analysis and the NRC has approved PG&E’s schedule to perform the work,” she added.
Thursday’s petition is the latest in a lengthy battle between environmental groups and the California utility company over the Diablo Canyon facility.
PG&E, in a 2016 agreement with environmental groups, said that it would close the plant in 2025, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who had helped broker the agreement for the plant’s closure — changed course last year, stating that he’s open to the nuclear power plant operating beyond that deadline to avoid blackouts as the state transitions to renewable energy sources.
Friends of the Earth sued earlier this year in the state’s Superior Court to prevent the plant from operating past its original 2025 deadline. The California judge rejected the lawsuit last month.
correction
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said a California judge rejected a Friends of the Earth lawsuit over the operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant this month. The judge rejected the suit in August. This version has been corrected.
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