Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumAdvocates urge feds to shut off reactor at California's last nuclear plant
Environmental groups argue that inspections on the thick steel containers for one reactor have been delayed for nearly 20 years, posing grave public safety concerns
By Anumita Kaur
September 14, 2023 at 10:28 p.m. EDT
Two environmental groups Thursday called on federal regulators to immediately shut down one of two reactors at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, Calif., the state's last nuclear power plant, until tests can be conducted on critical machinery that they believe could fail and cause a catastrophic accident. (Joe Johnston/AP)
Environmental groups Thursday demanded the federal government immediately shut down one of two reactors at Californias last nuclear power plant, stating in a petition filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that until tests are conducted on critical components, there is risk of nuclear meltdown.
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant reactors were scheduled to shutter in 2025, but California reversed course last year and is now considering running the plant located along the states central coast until at least the end of the decade. Nuclear reactors long a target of environmental advocates concerned about the possibility of radioactive meltdowns emit almost no pollutants and have increasingly been seen as a salve for governments seeking to address climate change and curb the use of fossil fuels.
The protesting organizations, Friends of the Earth and Mothers for Peace, stated in Thursdays petition that inspections on the Unit 1 reactors pressure vessel, meaning the thick steel containers that hold nuclear fuel, at Diablo Canyon have been delayed for nearly 20 years, posing grave public safety concerns. The plants operator, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), has instead relied on data from similar reactor vessels, the groups argue.
The groups seek to halt the use of the Unit 1 reactor until there is comprehensive testing and inspection, using ultrasound equipment and other tests of the pressure vessels structural integrity. The test results should be provided to federal regulators and to the public, and a hearing should be held before resuming operations, the petition states. ... The petition included a 46-page report by Digby Macdonald, a University of California at Berkeley professor in nuclear engineering and materials science, who wrote that continued operation of the Unit 1 reactor poses an unreasonable risk to public health and safety due to serious indications of an unacceptable degree of embrittlement. ... Embrittlement refers to the gradual weakening of the reactor vessel due to neutron radiation, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
{snip}
CORRECTION
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said a California judge rejected a Friends of the Earth lawsuit over the operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant this month. The judge rejected the suit in August. This version has been corrected.
By Anumita Kaur
Anumita Kaur is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post, where she covers breaking news and writes of-the-moment features. She has previously reported for the Los Angeles Times and Guam Pacific Daily News. Twitter https://twitter.com/anumitakaur
hunter
(38,826 posts)The claim that this plant could be replaced by wind and solar is a flat out lie.
Every wind and solar advocate becomes, whether they know it or not, a shill for the natural gas industry.
Natural gas is the most dangerous fuel in common use, mostly because people think it is clean, or at least "better than coal," and it supports their solar and wind fantasies.
Without fossil fuel "backup power," which inevitably isn't backup power at all, but primary power, wind and solar power are not economically viable.
Any numerate person who can read a graph can see why why wind and solar power cannot and will not displace fossil fuels here:
http://www.caiso.com/TodaysOutlook/Pages/supply.html
Using this openly available real world data one can model any sort of renewable energy "utopia" one likes, and none of them are pretty.
I used to be an anti-nuclear activist, and I protested the construction of this plant. I was only a few feet away from Jerry Brown when he declared "No new nukes!" in California (meaning after this one...)
I've since changed my opinion. Nuclear power is the only energy resource that can displace fossil fuels entirely, which is something we must do.
I DO agree with a court mandated inspection - if the claim is true that nothing has been done in 20 yrs - but a shutdown?!?
Childish demands...
That being said the reactor near my old home came close to a shutdown event for lack of maintenance:
On February 16, 2002, Davis Besse was shut down for refueling and routine inspections, an operation that included checking for cracks in the reactor head nozzles. They found more than just cracks: operators caught wind of a major problem that could have easily turned catastrophic had refueling been scheduled just a few weeks later. On March 5th, a hole with a surface area of 20-30 square inches (about the size of a football) was found in the reactor pressure vessel head (the shell that holds coolant layer around reactor core). The cavity had eaten through the carbon steel reactor pressure vessel head to the thin internal liner of stainless steel. It was just 3/16ths of an inch from going all the way through at which point it could easily have ruptured due to the heavy (1 ton per square inch) pressure inside.
That thin stainless steel covering was the only thing standing in the way of the collapse of the containment structure and widespread radioactive contamination, posing a health risk to thousands in the vicinity and contaminating Lake Erie as well. That might not seem catastrophically dramatic, unless you know that roughly 20% of the drinking water in the United States comes from Lake Erie.
https://www.thinkreliability.com/case_studies/root-cause-analysis-of-the-davis-besse-nuclear-power-plant-reactor-head-corrosion/
mahatmakanejeeves
(60,568 posts)No, I did not.
NNadir
(34,487 posts)...and it seems that the death toll associated with the fear of radiation, rather than the radiation itself, was much higher.
It appears, for all the coal, gas, and oil burned to power computers to carry on about Fukushima endlessly, the waste of which surely killed people, that radiation exposure has not been identified as a major cause of death.
Comparison of mortality patterns after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant radiation disaster and during the COVID-19 pandemic Motohiro Tsuboi et al 2022 J. Radiol. Prot. 42 031502
Beese Davis saved human lives in the event by preventing the release of highly toxic fossil fuel waste directly into the environment.
The success of antinuke ignorance at causing climate change and death is directly tied to blank suppositions about would could have happened over what is happening.
I am personally disgusted that we live in a culture where what is happening is outweighed by tortured imaginations of what could have happened but didn't happen.
The attitude is deadly.
It is extremely dubious to assume that if Beese Davis failed that Lake Erie would have been rendered undrinkable. It would be more interesting if people were as concerned about the concentration of mercury, lead, and other heavy metals.
One can read all about what is happening in the Great Lakes from things that have nothing to do with nuclear power and everything to do with industrial processes, including electricity generation by coal, in many places, but here's just one:
A Review of Heavy Metals Contamination Within the Laurentian Great Lakes.
If we were really concerned about risks to water quality in the Great Lakes we would build more nuclear plants in the Midwest.
BlueIn_W_Pa
(842 posts)This is an issue of corporate maintenance expense to the reactor and the lack of governmental regulations, not the technology. Not to mention, the drinking water intake for Toledo is only a mile or so from the reactor, so there's that from my point of view...
They did have a tritium leak at one point, but again, we've spoken to how little risk that is to anyone.
My maternal family are in the UP (near the large peninsula in Lake Superior), and I know the heavy metals issue well as a fisherman. It's really God's country up there. I love the link, it's always good to keep up with these things.
See the post about restarting the reactor in SW Michigan?
https://apnews.com/article/michigan-nuclear-plant-restart-276a7d06e639d66d434e393b42b4d392
LiberaBlueDem
(1,113 posts)Can you imagine what would happen if that reactor was to go Fuku?
CoopersDad
(2,810 posts)Please do the research to see the differences.
DCPP provides 1/10 of the state's electrical power, we need to keep it online.
Think. Again.
(17,207 posts)...inspection delayed for 20 YEARS?!?!?
Of course shut it down immediately, and then inspect it immediately, and if it needs any work done to pass the inspection, do that immediately and get it back up and running as safely as possible!
Nuclear power could help tremendously with the transition away from fossil fuels, the LAST thing we need right now is an avoidable accident to crush any hope of using nuclear along with every other non-CO2 emitting energy source to stop CO2 emissions.
CoopersDad
(2,810 posts)I attend a ton of meetings that relate to power generation of all sorts.
The number of "sky is falling", "no way never nuclear" voices has been declining over the years, largely because the science tells us that nuclear power is an essential tool in combating climate change.
If one of the reactor vessels needs to be inspected, I'll be it can be done without shutting it down. I suspect these two groups would find some other excuse to try to close down the plant.
I'm sure the concerns are "grave", I doubt that there's much about which to worry. The spent fuel is stored well back from the plant on site, the plant itself is considerably higher than sea level, and the extended duration for operations is essential to our meeting the goal of electrification of our vehicle fleet.
You can't just dump 1/10 of our power supply and not expect to replace it with more natural gas plants.
So, that's my two cents.
Mistermike
(12 posts)I've been an Inspector at Nuclear Plants and Nuclear repair shops for over 30 years. If you actually BELIEVE climate change represents TEOTWAWKI, then you should support building Nuclear Plants like there's no tomorrow.