![]() He added that obtaining more testing data on Unit 1 is especially important because its steel has excessive copper and nickel content “that render it more vulnerable to embrittlement.” He noted that unlike most other reactor safety components, the pressure vessel has no independent backup system that can be called upon if it should crack or fracture and lose essential cooling water. In his report, Macdonald concludes PG&E should have accelerated its testing schedule, not delayed it, to assess possible defects. The utility postponed further testing in favor of using results from similar reactors to justify continued operations, they said. According to the groups, the last inspections on the vessel took place between 20. The petition asks the NRC to convene a hearing to review a 2003 decision by agency staff to extend the testing schedule for the Unit 1 pressure vessel until 2025. “The reactor should be closed until PG&E obtains and analyzes additional data regarding its condition,” wrote Macdonald, who was retained by the environmental groups. ![]() The petition, filed Thursday in Washington, was accompanied by a 46-page report by Digby Macdonald, a University of California, Berkeley, professor in nuclear engineering and materials science, who wrote that continued operation of the Unit 1 reactor “poses an unreasonable risk to public health and safety due to serious indications of an unacceptable degree of embrittlement.” The filing comes just weeks after a state judge rejected a lawsuit filed by the group that sought to block PG&E - the state’s largest utility - from seeking to extend the plant’s operating life. Gavin Newsom, who once was a leading voice to close the plant, said last year that Diablo Canyon’s power is needed beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California transitions to solar and other renewable energy sources.įriends of the Earth, a longtime critic of plant safety, was a central player in negotiating the 2016 closing agreement. PG&E agreed in 2016 to shutter the plant by 2025, but at the direction of the state changed course and now intends to seek a longer operating run for the twin reactors. The petition marks the latest development in a long fight over the operation and safety of the seaside plant, which began operating in the mid-1980s. Hosn said additional testing was planned but didn’t provide a date when that would occur. “We are in full compliance with industry guidance and regulatory standards regarding our program to monitor, evaluate and ensure reactor vessel safety.” “Analysis has demonstrated that the reactor vessels for both Units 1 and 2 currently meet the NRC’s acceptance criteria,” Hosn wrote. PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn said in a statement that the plant has an excellent safe operating record, and that the NRC’s current assessment places it among the highest-performing plants in the nation.
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