{"id":1466814,"date":"2022-05-06T15:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T19:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1466814"},"modified":"2022-05-06T15:00:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T19:00:17","slug":"newsom-open-to-keeping-major-nuclear-plant-operating-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newsom-open-to-keeping-major-nuclear-plant-operating-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsom Open To Keeping Major Nuclear Plant Operating In California"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnewsom-open-to-keeping-major-nuclear-plant-operating-in-california%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1466814&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/266E4389-16BC-4619-8411-59919364DACE_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2022-04-29\/california-promised-to-close-its-last-nuclear-plant-now-newsom-is-reconsidering\"><span class=\"s1\">told<\/span><\/a> the Los Angeles Times last week that he is taking action to hold off on closing down the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which was set to be shut down over the next few years.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The governor told the outlet that California would be looking to try to receive federal funds directed at helping save nuclear reactors facing shutdowns; funding announced by the Biden administration in April. There is a question, however, as to whether or not Diablo would qualify for the money.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe requirement is by May 19 to submit an application, or you miss the opportunity to draw down any federal funds if you want to extend the life of that plant,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cWe would be remiss not to put that on the table as an option.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Newsom noted that state authorities could determine later on whether or not they want to go forward with that as a possibility. A spokesperson for Newsom told the Times that the governor still wants to witness the plant shut down in the long run.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The owner of the plant is Pacific Gas &#038; Electric (PG&#038;E), which is planning to close it down by 2025. The nuclear plant reportedly created 6% of California\u2019s power last year. In 2016, PG&#038;E reached an agreement with environment organizations and its union workers to stop its nuclear work after its licenses for nuclear reactors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/news\/local\/environment\/article261004182.html\"><span class=\"s1\">end in 2024 and 2025<\/span><\/a>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Suzanne Hosn<span class=\"s2\">, <\/span>PG&#038;E spokesperson, told The Daily Wire in an email, \u201cPG&#038;E is committed to California\u2019s clean energy future. The people of PG&#038;E are proud of the role that Diablo Canyon Power Plant plays in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe are always open to considering all options to ensure continued safe, reliable, and clean energy delivery to our customers,\u201d Hosn added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Nuclear power is often pointed to as a climate-friendly solution to energy, although it has gotten pushback from some activists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">PG&#038;E <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pge.com\/en_US\/safety\/how-the-system-works\/diablo-canyon-power-plant\/about-the-diablo-canyon-power-plant.page\"><span class=\"s1\">explained<\/span><\/a> that the Diablo Canyon plant \u201chas continued to safely produce clean and reliable energy without greenhouse gases,\u201d keeping away six to seven million tons per year of greenhouse gases that would be discharged by \u201cconventional generation resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The two reactors at the plant create a total of 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, which the group notes is an amount sufficient to accommodate almost \u201c10% of California\u2019s energy portfolio and 20% of the power that PG&#038;E provides throughout its service area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Electricity has been an issue in California for the past several years, and the decision to end the use of the nuclear power plant could make the problem worse.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>In August of 2020, hundreds of thousands of Californians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/10\/02\/why-is-california-closing-diablo-canyon-nuclear-plant.html\"><span class=\"s1\">went through rolling energy blackouts<\/span><\/a> as a heat wave struck at the state\u2019s power grid. That same year, nuclear energy made up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.ca.gov\/data-reports\/energy-almanac\/california-electricity-data\/2020-total-system-electric-generation\"><span class=\"s1\">more than 9%<\/span><\/a> of the state\u2019s total power mix. Newsom told the Times that he has been considering keeping the plant open for longer since the August 2020 blackouts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Still, some groups are not happy about the possibility that the plant will stay open.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In response to the governor\u2019s interview with the Times last week, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/news\/local\/environment\/article261004182.html\"><span class=\"s1\">released<\/span><\/a> a statement wondering \u201cwhether the governor has the power to make any decisions about how long Diablo Canyon should operate,\u201d and pointing to multiple problems with trying to keep the plant open at this stage in the shutting-down operations.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The group <a href=\"https:\/\/mothersforpeace.org\/contact-us\/\"><span class=\"s1\">describes<\/span><\/a> itself as a non-profit \u201cconcerned with the local dangers involving the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and with the dangers of nuclear power, weapons, and waste on national and global levels.\u201d It also said it \u201cconcerns itself with issues of peace, social justice, and a safe environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Mothers for Peace said that if PG&#038;E wants to keep going past the 2025 shutdown date, \u201cit would have to face a variety of complicated issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cLogic and the safety of our community requires Diablo Canyon to close as planned in 2024 and 2025,\u201d the group concluded. \u201cMillions of dollars of taxpayer and rate payer money have already been spent to support an orderly shutdown process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As the San Luis Obispo Tribune <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/news\/local\/environment\/article261004182.html\"><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a>, the group also pointed out how the federal funds from the Biden administration\u2019s Nuclear Credit Program mandates that the applicant be the nuclear plant\u2019s owner, which would be PG&#038;E.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">Environmental groups in the past were reportedly worried about how the cooling system would impact sea life, and how close the facility was to multiple geologic faults, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tech\/annals-of-technology\/the-activists-who-embrace-nuclear-power\"><span class=\"s4\">The New Yorker<\/span><\/a>. They took these concerns to the California State Lands Commission, which has to provide a lease to the in order for the nuclear plant to be able to function.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">Newsom, who chaired the commission at the time while he was lieutenant governor, reportedly said he would consider the problems, and at a meeting in December of 2015, he said, \u201cI just don\u2019t see that this plant is going to survive beyond \u201924-2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">The unreliability of the electric grid continues to be on the mind of many Americans, all while some climate activists push for nuclear energy, noting that it is a reliable power source that is arguably better for the environment than others. The Times noted that nuclear energy accounts for almost as much as all other renewable energy sources <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/tools\/faqs\/faq.php?id=427&#038;t=3\"><span class=\"s4\">combined<\/span><\/a>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">As California shifts to potentially keeping the plant open, several other reactors might still be shut down, The New Yorker reported last year. The outlet pointed to a 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/nuclear-power-dilemma\"><span class=\"s4\">report<\/span><\/a> from the Union of Concerned Scientists describing how expensive it would be \u201cto bring unprofitable plants back to a breakeven point.\u201d The group described how shutting down \u201c<\/span>unprofitable and marginal at-risk plants early could result in a\u00a0<i>4 to 6 percent<\/i> increase in US power sector emissions.\u201d It also noted that if fresh policies aren\u2019t formed, natural gas and coal will fill the hole created.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom told the Los Angeles Times last week that he is taking action to hold off on closing down the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":1481908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1466814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1466814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1481908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1466814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1466814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1466814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}