California’s governor seeks lifeline for last nuclear plant

After nearly 40 years of protesting against the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, Linda Seeley thought victory was finally at hand.

Seeley and other members of Mothers for Peace — an activist group with roots in the 1960s antiwar movement — cheered when Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility that operates the California’s last nuclear power station, announced in 2016 that it would close by 2025.

But governor Gavin Newsom, a longtime proponent of shutting down the plant, has reversed course and embarked on a last-minute effort to extend its operation by a decade.

Newsom’s administration has cited “unprecedented stress” on state’s energy system as a reason for keeping open Diablo Canyon, which alone accounts for 9 per cent of the state’s generation and 17 per cent of its electricity from carbon-free sources. The California legislature will need to vote on whether to extend its operating life by Wednesday.

Seeley, who lives seven miles from the plant in San Luis Obispo county, is furious. “With this proposal, Gavin Newsom is keeping an asset that is antiquated, needs tons of upgrades [and] has a six-year history of deferred maintenance,” she said.

“It would be unconscionable to allow the plant to go on operating without doing the due diligence needed to make sure the plant is safe enough to work.”

Beyond those concerns, she said, are the issues that have kept her up at night for decades. Diablo Canyon’s coastal location sits on faultlines, prompting concerns that seismic activity could trigger a nuclear meltdown. The plant, Seeley said, “is precariously perched on the edge of the ocean in an earthquake zone”.

Proponents of extending the plant’s life note it has operated without incident since 1985. They argue its steady power output is crucial as the state reaches for a goal of carbon-free electricity by 2045.

California is also phasing out sales of petrol-fuelled cars and some communities aim to electrify home heating and appliances, which will increase demand for power.

The grid is already straining to meet peak demand in the face of extreme weather fuelled by a changing climate. In 2020, a record heatwave and forest fires drove rolling blackouts for hundreds of thousands of customers. This year, drought has severely depleted the water that feeds California’s hydroelectric dams.

California is a leader in renewable generation, with a quarter of its electricity powered by solar and wind resources in 2021 compared to 12 per cent for the US as a whole. But problems in the supply chain and cost inflation threaten to impede their expansion, according to state officials.

The state’s power system will hit a “critical inflection point after Diablo Canyon retires”, the California Independent System Operator (Caiso), which manages most of the state’s grid, warned in a filing last year.

Defenders of Diablo Canyon point to the consequences in other states that have recently shut down nuclear power plants facilities.

In New York state, wholesale electricity prices went up after the Indian Point nuclear plant closed in 2020 and 2021, while carbon emissions rose because of increased reliance on natural gas power. Germany has encountered similar trends since it began to retire nuclear facilities after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

The Biden administration is promoting nuclear energy as a way to reach its clean energy goals.

The US energy department recently announced a $6bn plan to support nuclear power reactors that are at risk of shutting down. If the California legislature gives Diablo Canyon a lifeline, it could apply for those funds.

In a statement, San Francisco-based PG&E said: “As a regulated utility, we follow the energy policies of the state,” adding it was “ready to support the state’s goals to ensure statewide electric reliability and minimise greenhouse gas emissions”.

Though nuclear plants have been closing across the US, a growing group of scientists and activists has embraced nuclear power as an important tool in reducing carbon emissions despite their high costs and safety concerns. Among them is Heather Hoff, who founded Mothers for Nuclear in 2016 to advocate for keeping Diablo Canyon open and promote nuclear technology.

She said she felt vindicated by the volte-face by Newsom, a Democrat. “It feels rewarding that [Newsom] and other groups are recognising that we haven’t made as much progress as we were hoping on renewables and it really does make the most sense to keep operating Diablo Canyon,” said Hoff, who is also a PG&E employee who works at the plant.

“We know we’re going to need more clean energy, we know we are going to need more electricity to run air conditioners and keep food refrigerated in a more extreme environment.”

Success for Newsom in his effort to forestall the closure of Diablo Canyon would be a potential boost for nuclear power plants in other states, given California’s influence on US environmental policy.

At an appearance in Los Angeles last week, Newsom expressed optimism about his plan. “I’m confident we’ll land this,” he said.