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

[PamW]

13. WRONG, as per usual

kristopher,

One of my friends from graduate school works for the NRC and I asked him about the Diablo Canyon situation.

When the NRC considers a re-licensing petition; their rules state that they "grandfather in" all previous decisions about the plant.

Only issues that have to do with the aging of the plant; such as how much neutron exposure the pressure vessel has received, which affects vessel embrittlement will be considered.

Issues that are unrelated to the aging of the plant are grandfathered in.

So when Diablo Canyon was first licensed, there was a decision to accept the local environmental degradation due to heated water being released and larvae being ingested. That is; the decision was made that the degree of environmental degradation due to heated water / larvae ingestion was NOT severe enough to stand in the way of the plant operating at full power. Nothing has changed in that regard. It's the same environment, and the reactor is at the same power level.

So the NRC will consider that issue settled when the license comes up for renewal, and will NOT ACCEPT any petitions from environmentalists to over-rule the decision at the first licensing back in the 1980s.

All those issues brought up by kristopher are NON-STARTERS for the NRC; and no State law can force the NRC to change its stand; because Congress was very clear in the Atomic Energy Act; all other considerations including state laws are NOT to interfere with the AEC or its successor the NRC.

The good thing about science is that it is true, whether or not you believe in it.
--Neil deGrasse Tyson

PamW