Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant can remain open as NRC accepts relicensing application

Mackenzie Shuman
·3 min read
1

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted PG&E’s application to renew the operating license for Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

The decision allows PG&E to continue running the 2,200-megawatt power plant located near Avila Beach while the federal agency reviews the utility company’s application to keep the plant open another 20 years.

That means the power plant can operate past its originally scheduled closure dates in 2024 and 2025, when the plant’s current licenses are scheduled to expire.

The move to allow the power plant to operate beyond its licensed period was authorized through Senate Bill 846, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2022. The bill noted that the state’s failure to procure enough clean energy to fully replace Diablo Canyon has left it no other option but to keep the nuclear power plant operational.

Diablo Canyon provides about 9% of the state’s electricity and has since become what California officials say is the best solution to ensure the state has a reliable energy grid as electricity demand rises in the face of climate change, electrification and other factors.

“PG&E remains committed to complying with energy policies to ensure the state has the option to keep DCPP online past 2025 to ensure electricity reliability as California continues toward its clean energy future,” said Maureen Zawalick, Diablo Canyon Power Plant vice president, in a prepared statement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue providing homes and businesses across California with safe, clean and affordable power.”

The NRC’s decision comes days after the California Public Utilities Commission, the agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state, authorized PG&E to continue operating Diablo Canyon. The commission’s vote was compelled by SB 846 and was done without the body fully knowing the costs of continued operations and on the premise that Diablo Canyon was needed because not enough clean energy is available to replace the plant by the end of 2023.

The CPUC authorized PG&E to operate the power plant until 2029 and 2030.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the control room at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in Avila Beach during a quick visit to San Luis Obispo County on March 1, 2023.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the control room at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in Avila Beach during a quick visit to San Luis Obispo County on March 1, 2023.

To help it do so, SB 846 allocated $1.4 billion for a forgivable loan from the state to PG&E to aid in funding the continued operations of the plant. The U.S. Department of Energy then granted PG&E $1.1 billion in November 2022 to help keep Diablo Canyon running. PG&E has said it will use that money to pay back the state’s loan and lower costs to ratepayers.

PG&E filed its license renewal application with the NRC in early November, meaning it took within the expected 30 to 60 days for the federal agency to determine the application was sufficient for a full review.

What comes next are “detailed safety and environmental reviews” of PG&E’s application, the NRC said in its news release Tuesday.

That process could take up to five years, but typically between 22 and 30 months, according to the NRC.

The public can now request a formal adjudicatory hearing on the application review for Diablo Canyon if the requesting party “would be adversely affected by the renewal,” the NRC’s website says.

The deadline for filing a hearing request is March 4, 2024.

Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant owned by PG&E discharges about 2.5 billion gallons of cooling water a day into the 40-acre cove along the Pacific Ocean. The ecology of the cove has shifted toward warmer-water species since it began operating in 1985 but is expected to return to previous conditions within a few years of shutdown of its two units, scheduled for 2024 and 2025.