Diablo plant is safe, reliable –until it isn’t (Op-Ed in Santa Maria Times, Sat. June 18, 2011)

The failure to imagine the unimaginable at aging reactors on seismically active coasts is a failure our state call ill afford. Californians need only glance west across the Pacific Rim to heed the lessons now unfolding after the Fukushima meltdown.

To date, over $23 billion in damages have been filed against TEPCO, the owner of the Fukushima reactor site in Japan.

Of potential losses, the New York Times reports, “A Bank of America/Merrill Lynch estimate puts the sum as high as $130 billion. By comparison: BP’s compensation fund for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is $20 billion.”

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility has been working since 2005 with local, state and federal elected representatives and oversight agencies. It is a measure of our success that the Nuclear Regulator Commission has finally delayed the license renewal process for Diablo Canyon until 2015, after the anticipated completion of this state’s requested updated seismic studies.

Concerned ratepayers must remain vigilant and insist that all seismic updates submitted by PG&E be peer-reviewed by a joint panel of state experts.

Forty years ago, PG&E was allowed to make seismic judgments with only the approval of the NRC. This lack of external oversight led to $4.4 billion in seismic retrofits and cost overruns. Only when the Central Coast receives the state’s approval will we know if our community’s continued investment in Diablo Canyon is prudent.

PG&E is required to prevent the catastrophes that the NRC can imagine. When it licensed Diablo, the NRC could not imagine an earthquake resulting in a radioactive release, with damaged infrastructure and chaos to follow. Japan has sadly proven they were wrong, yet the NRC has not changed its planning.

There is no homeowner or business owner insurance offered to protect from radioactive release, at any price. Federal limits for a radioactive disaster at a U.S. reactor site are $12.6 billion — magnitudes less than the current damages being filed in Japan.

So great is the loss in Japan, that taxpayers there are expected to bail out TEPCO’s claims on the strength of a “promise” to be repaid some day. The New York Times reported that small towns in Japan — not unlike the San Luis region — had grown dependent on the nuclear utilities for jobs and cash.

Now, they are faced with evacuation zones, abandoned properties and refugees. They had never planned for a what-if? scenario. TEPCO was a major employer and purchaser of goods in Fukushima — until it wasn’t.

Californians should request a study of the costs of replacing Diablo Canyon. What portion of the current site could host a state-of–the-art, renewable-energy park using the existing transmission lines? How many new jobs would be created, and still allow most of the workforce to retire if Diablo could be safely maintained until the end of its original license?

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility does not know what the updated seismic studies and mapping will disclose. We do know the state must not squander this opportunity to create an independent panel to analyze possible alternatives to Diablo Canyon.

The Alliance invites the public to join with us and participate in all official proceedings.

Rochelle Becker is executive director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility based in San Luis Obispo, She is a 40-year resident of Grover Beach.