Aging Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Gets Billion Dollar Bailout

Burdened with problems and located on a fault line, the Biden administration voted to approve up to $1.1 billion in conditional funding for the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, originally planned to be retired in 2025.

An Office of Inspector General investigation of the US NRC revealed that Diablo Canyon had many issues overlooked by NRC inspectors, including a failure of the plant’s “backup water supply”. Other concerns include if the steel around the reactors have undergone nuclear embrittlement, a problem identified at other nuclear plants, including Doel 3 and Tihange 2 in Belgium.

Citizens and environmental groups continue to fight the plan, including the NRDC. Diablo Canyon’s earthquake vulnerability is from the Shoreline Fault, which according to PG&E (owners of Diablo Canyon) could produce quakes up to magnitude 6.5.

Tags: #DiabloCanyon #NoNukes #California



Sources:

California’s last nuclear power plant gets $1bn funding to extend life,
November 2022.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/21/california-nuclear-power-plant-biden-grant

Belgian nuclear reactors riddled with 16,000 unexplained cracks, February 2015.
https://theecologist.org/2015/feb/18/belgian-nuclear-reactors-riddled-16000-unexplained-cracks

Federal report details inspection failures at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, March 2022.
https://www.kcbx.org/environment-and-energy/2022-03-28/federal-report-details-inspection-failures-at-diablo-canyon-nuclear-power-plant

Diablo Canyon Nuclear .Power Plant Has Long To-Do List to Assure Safety,  
October 2022.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/diablo-canyon-nuclear-power-plant-safety/3038039/

Diablo Canyon earthquake vulnerability, Last edited October 2022.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_earthquake_vulnerability

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