Dive Brief:
- Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) must address 11 issues — including seismic vulnerability, once-through cooling, and spent-fuel storage — before the utility seeks to recoup the cost of relicensing its 2,160-MW Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, according to the head of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
- About two years ago, the PUC rejected a request by San Francisco-based PG&E to spend $80 million relicensing the plant.
- If PG&E wants to keep the plant operating, it must replace its once-through cooling system, which could cost up to $12 billion.
Dive Insight:
Like other regulators, the California PUC is giving the state's nuclear plants more scrutiny because of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. PG&E has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the licenses, but the process was delayed so the utility could finish more studies following the Fukushima disaster. The plant's two units are licensed until 2024 and 2025 respectively. They supply about 20% of PG&E's power.
