Environmental group urges Padilla to intercede with NRC on Diablo Canyon seismic risk

A California-based environmental group wants Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to fight the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent decisions to forgo additional seismic risk evaluation at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California.

Diablo Canyon is a two-unit nuclear plant based in San Obispo, Calif. and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric. The company submitted a license renewal application for the plant to the NRC in November 2023.

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, an environmental group, challenged Diablo Canyon’s license renewal application over seismic risk. The group said former NRC Chair Christopher Hanson committed to consider evaluating seismic risk for the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant as a part of its license renewal process.

Mothers for Peace said Hanson said this to Padilla during a 2023 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. 

But in a July 15 license renewal decision, weeks after President Donald Trump fired Hanson, the NRC decided to move ahead with the license renewal approval. 

“We urge you to insist that the NRC adhere to the commitments that it has made to the state of California and to you,” Mothers for Peace wrote to Padilla. 

In light of the recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake in eastern Russia, Mothers for Peace sent a letter to Padilla on July 31 to urge the senator to fight again for the NRC to take into consideration seismic risk in the Diablo Canyon application in the event of an earthquake in California.

Diablo Canyon reactors’ licenses were to expire in 2024 and 2025, respectively, but Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) passed legislation in 2022 to extend the plant’s lifespan to 2029 for unit 1 and 2030 for unit 2. Diablo Canyon is currently operating at full capacity according to NRC’s Aug. 4 status report.