The goal of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility is to limit the production and storage of high-level radioactive waste produced at Diablo Canyon to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s current license of 40 years. We believe this is a responsible objective and would like the citizens of California to join our effort. By the mid-2020s — when these current licenses expire — California’s nuclear reactors (designed in the 1960s) will have left the following radioactive waste and large radioactive components on our coast:

• reactor vessel heads

• turbine rotors

• steam generators

• 38 casks covering three football fields — each containing tons of high-level radioactive waste.

And this list is not all-inclusive.

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility believes that 40 years is enough. The state has passed legislation — without a single "no" vote — directing the California Energy Commission to analyze the costs, benefits and risks of the state’s reliance on aging nuclear plants, acknowledging the threat to California’s economy if we do not plan for a reliable energy future. This study will now determine whether nuclear reactors will be reliable, safe and — because our money does not grow on trees — economically viable until 2045.

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility is concerned with the growing stockpiles of radioactive material on our fragile coast. We are equally alarmed by the failure of aging components originally designed to last the full 40-year license term, yet deteriorating and needing to be replaced after only 20 years. Will billions of dollars of components need to be replaced again? What other unanticipated costs and expenses await the ratepayers? Will these aging plants be reliable for another 40 years if license renewals are granted?

Currently, PG&E is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to pass on the cost of a $14 million, utility-controlled feasibility study of license renewal to the ratepayers. PG&E’s director of long-term energy policy and planning, Ray Williams, stated this past autumn that if the utility decided not to apply to relicense Diablo Canyon, replacement power planning would not need to begin until 2014. The CPUC should deny PG&E’s request for an in-house study as premature until the state’s CEC study is completed.

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility believes that as we plan for our energy future, all cities, counties, agencies, schools and nonprofits that may be financially affected if or when California’s nuclear plants are shut down be closely involved in CEC process. We will be requesting San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Orange and San Diego counties increase their participation in the analysis — to assure the voices of their constituents are heard in Sacramento.

PG&E has used ratepayer dollars administered through the PUC to tout their efficiency and renewable energy goals — and they have given us a series of TV commercials proclaiming that the future is "wind, sun and water." There is no mention of nuclear power in that future. California can replace 4,000 megawatts with safe, clean efficient energy. Why not join together with PG&E and the CEC to make this slogan a genuine reality?

If you are interested in joining the efforts of the Alliance, please call 858-337-2703 or visit www.a4nr.org

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/editorial/letters/16388962.htm

Morro Bay resident David Weisman is the outreach coordinator for the Alliance For Nuclear Responsibility.