Will Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) get a Coastal Commission amendment to send its nuclear waste to Southern California?
After the year 2025, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will run out of storage space for its deadly nuclear waste.
This questionable proposed amendment by the California Coastal Commission staff was tacked on signals a direct connection to the last vote of the last legislative session of California’s 2022 legislative session — our elected officials approved a massive “forgivable loan” to PG&E for $1.42 BILLION, the cost of which will be paid by every single utility ratepayer in California.
Two days later, PG&E submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a five-year license extension that enables the utility to access a portion of the of the Department of Energy’s $6 Billion in funding for the nuclear industry.
That left PG&E with only one problem: Where will PG&E dump their newly created nuclear waste next?
Now, the California Coastal Commission has provided PG&E with a possible answer: Send it to Southern California.
As such, Public Watchdogs questions the intent of the California Coastal Commission’s questionable language that may hold the potential to expand the capacity of the San Onofre Nuclear waste dump.
Here’s the language:
“Accordingly, any future substantive physical or structural
improvements to the permitted structure, including but not
limited to an increase in storage capacity of spent nuclear
fuel or the storage of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power
plants other than the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.”
“The Commission, by writing this language in this manner has crafted a potential regulatory pathway that could enable the import of nuclear waste from other nuclear power plants,” says Charles Langley, the Executive Director of Public Watchdogs.
“If the Commission did not want their language to be misinterpreted, and their intent was to be clear, then they should have offered simple language that prohibits even one more ounce of radioactive waste at San Onofre,” says Nina Babiarz, a Public Watchdogs advocate.
“Our concern,” says Langley “is that San Onofre could become the home to nuclear waste from other power plants. We are requesting the Commission to provide our community with a clear explanation of their intent.”
Recently, California courts have classified PG&E as a recidivist criminal.
For interviews or background information, call Charles Langley at (858) 752-4600