Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week rejected a request from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to resume its review of the license renewal application for the 2.2-GW Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant the utility filed in 2009.
• In a letter to the utility on Jan. 24, the NRC said that going back to that application, which PG&E withdrew in 2018 after California opted to retire the nuclear plant by 2025, would “not be consistent with our regulations.”
• PG&E can resubmit a license renewal application for the plant with updated and new information, the agency said in the letter. PG&E intends to submit a new application by the end of 2023, utility spokesperson Jim Jennings said in an emailed statement.

Dive Insight:

In 2018 California regulators approved a settlement to allow PG&E to retire the Diablo Canyon plant’s two units when their current licenses expire, in 2024 and 2025. The state has since been grappling with grid reliability challenges, however, in part due to delays to new clean energy projects. With those concerns and a $6 billion federal program that could help support retaining the Diablo Canyon plant, state lawmakers passed legislation that would allow the units to stay online through Oct. 31, 2029, and Oct. 31, 2030.

In October, PG&E requested authority from the NRC to resume the review of the initial relicensing application it filed in 2009. Citing California’s reversal on the future of the plant, the utility said reviewing the previous application “is the most prudent and efficient regulatory path” to getting the license renewed.

Under existing regulations, as long as the owner of a nuclear plant files a relicensing application at least five years before its current license expires, the current license can remain in place until the NRC issues a decision. If the NRC chooses not to resume review of its previous application, PG&E asked that it grant the company an exemption from this regulation so “it could still receive timely renewal protection” for the application it plans to file by the end of the year. The NRC is considering the request and intends to issue a decision in March, the agency said in its letter. 

The NRC’s letter clarifies the regulatory path PG&E will follow for license renewal, and the utility has been developing application materials and supporting documents to file the request with the agency later this year, according to Jennings. 

“Diablo Canyon Power Plant continues to operate as a safe, reliable and clean energy resource for California and PG&E remains committed to complying with current legislative policy to ensure the state has the option to keep [the plant] online to ensure electrical reliability as California continues toward its clean energy future,” he said. 

Diane Curran, an attorney for San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace — one of three groups that petitioned the NRC to reject PG&E’s request — praised the agency’s decision. “The license renewal application was withdrawn by PG&E from the license renewal docket and then they let it lapse … when you file a license renewal application, you have to update it every year,” she said.

Curran said that the NRC’s decision is a big setback for PG&E because a new application filed at the end of the year won’t give the NRC much time to complete its review before the license for Diablo Canyon’s Unit 1 expires in 2024. 

She added that she does not think PG&E has any lawful basis to get an exemption from the regulations to allow it to keep operating the plant while the license renewal process is underway.