Diablo Canyon needs to spend up to $12B to stay open

[kristopher]

5. No, it will almost certainly never happen.

Spending $12B on cooling towers isn't probable. However, it isn't much more likely that the company will make the investments required to extend the operating licenses if they also have to cut back production, which would be the the only way they alternatives you've glommed onto are going to meet the standards required.

...Short of shutting down the plant or reducing its power output, there is no good solution to the once-through cooling problem, she said.

Her group recommends that the state allow the continued use of once-through cooling at Diablo Canyon until the end of 2025, then require the plant to shut down when its license expires.

“Many of the recommendations outlined in the Bechtel report are untried, and there’s a lot of time and money involved here,” she said. “I have grave concerns about underestimating the cost of doing any engineering project on the coast.”...