Current:Home > BackEnvironmentalists suffer another setback in fight to shutter California’s last nuclear power plant-InfoLens
Environmentalists suffer another setback in fight to shutter California’s last nuclear power plant
View Date:2024-12-23 16:15:41
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal regulators Wednesday rejected a request from two environmental groups to immediately shut down one of two reactors at California’s last nuclear power plant.
Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace said in a petition filed last month with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that long-postponed tests needed to be conducted on critical machinery at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. They argued the equipment could fail and cause a catastrophe.
In an order dated Tuesday, the NRC took no action on the request to immediately shut down the Unit 1 reactor and instead asked agency staff to review it.
The NRC also rejected a request to convene a hearing to reconsider a 2003 decision by staff to extend the testing schedule for the Unit 1 pressure vessel until 2025. The vessels are thick steel containers that hold nuclear fuel and cooling water in the reactors.
According to the groups, the last inspections on the vessel took place between 2003 and 2005. The utility postponed further testing in favor of using results from similar reactors to justify continued operations, they said.
The commission found there was no justification for a hearing.
The groups said in a statement that the decision showed “a complete lack of concern for the safety and security of the people living near” the plant, which started operating in the mid-1980s.
Operator Pacific Gas & Electric had said the plant was in “full compliance” with industry guidance and regulatory standards for monitoring and evaluating the safety of the reactor vessels.
The petition marked the latest development in a long fight over the operation and safety of the seaside plant, which sits on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. In August, a state judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Earth that sought to block PG&E from seeking to extend the operating life of the plant.
PG&E agreed in 2016 to shutter the plant by 2025, but at the direction of the state changed course and now intends to seek a longer operating run for the twin reactors. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who once was a leading voice to close the plant, said last year that Diablo Canyon’s power is needed beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California transitions to solar and other renewable energy sources.
veryGood! (88522)
Related
- Why Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams May Be Rejoining the George R.R. Martin Universe
- King Charles III seeks to look ahead in a visit to Kenya. But he’ll have history to contend with
- Maine embarks on healing and searches for answers a day after mass killing suspect is found dead
- Sephora drops four Advent calendars with beauty must-haves ahead of the holiday season
- Suspected shooter and four others are found dead in three Kansas homes, police say
- Matthew Perry Reflected on Ups and Downs in His Life One Year Before His Death
- See How Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Stokes and More Stars Are Celebrating Halloween 2023
- Feel Free to Keep These 25 Spooky Secrets About Casper
- Mason Bates’ Met-bound opera ‘Kavalier & Clay’ based on Michael Chabon novel premieres in Indiana
- Manhunt for Maine shooting suspect Robert Card prompts underwater searches
Ranking
- Man killed in Tuskegee University shooting in Alabama is identified. 16 others were hurt
- Russians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies
- Erdogan opts for a low-key celebration of Turkey’s 100th anniversary as a secular republic
- Trump and 3 of his adult children will soon testify in fraud trial, New York attorney general says
- Tom Brady Admits He Screwed Up as a Dad to Kids With Bridget Moynahan and Gisele Bündchen
- Kelly dominates on mound as Diamondbacks bounce back to rout Rangers 9-1 and tie World Series 1-all
- West Virginia's Akok Akok 'stable' at hospital after 'medical emergency' in exhibition game
- Justin Trudeau, friends, actors and fans mourn Matthew Perry
Recommendation
-
FSU football fires offensive, defensive coordinators, wide receivers coach
-
JAY-Z says being a beacon, helping out his culture is what matters to him most
-
Israel strikes near Gaza’s largest hospital after accusing Hamas of using it as a base
-
Jagger watches Barcelona wear Stones logo in ‘clasico’ but Beatles fan Bellingham gets Madrid winner
-
As US Catholic bishops meet, Trump looms over their work on abortion and immigration
-
Matthew Perry Dead at 54
-
What is a walking school bus? Hint: It has no tires but lots of feet and lots of soul
-
Colombian police continue search for father of Liverpool striker Díaz