County Strengthens Positions on Diablo Canyon Closure Activities
Author: Administrative Office
Date: 8/22/2019 4:23 PM
The County of San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors voted to take positions on a variety of issues related to the closure of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which will happen no later than 2025.
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, the Board voted unanimously to:
- Support efforts to move the plant straight to decommissioning (DECON), which would allow PG&E to immediately begin dismantling the plant soon after operations cease. All equipment, structures, and portions of the facility containing radioactive contaminants would be removed or decontaminated. This path is expected to prevent decades of delays in decontamination, be safer for our community, and cost ratepayers less than other approaches.
- Act as the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the plant’s decommissioning activities.
- Support the full amount estimated by PG&E – $4.8 billion in ratepayer funding – which could be used to ensure full restoration of the Diablo Canyon site and lands to their pre-power plant state, with no transfer of liability from PG&E to County taxpayers.
- Ensure that the County’s (and PG&E’s) emergency response is continued through decommissioning, without reduction.
“The County’s primary concern is safety for the communities we serve,” said Assistant County Administrative Officer Guy Savage, who presented an update on activities related to the power plant’s future closure to the Board on Tuesday, Aug. 20. “It is important for the County to continue to ensure a safe community during Diablo Canyon Power Plant operations, through decommissioning, and for as long as spent fuels are stored along our coastline.”
The plant’s future closure has broad impacts to the people, economy and environment in San Luis Obispo County.
Tuesday’s discussion was centered around PG&E’s most recent cost estimates for planning and decommissioning the plant, which were filed recently as part of the 2018 Nuclear Decommissioning Cost Triennial Proceeding (NDCTP) filings submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The County is a party to the 2018 NDCTP proceedings.
The CPUC will hold evidentiary hearings regarding the 2018 NDCTP in San Francisco, beginning on September 23, 2019.
