We live in one of the beautiful places on earth. Lush green carpets our hills, and mustard, poppies and lupine color the road as I drive to San Luis Obispo from Grover. On my left a tranquil blue ocean and the peaceful bay of Avila are seen in the distance. How blessed we are to live in such a special unique environment.

Then I am reminded that just over the hill from pristine Avila there will soon be a radioactive storage site covering an area the size of three football fields. There is nothing our county can do about this waste site, but we can prevent the NRC from allowing the radioactive contents of the nuclear facility to double.

Our community is precious and the beauty of this county is unsurpassed. Each day when I look out my front window at our beautiful ocean or the back window at rolling hills I am awed by how lucky I am to live in this incredible county. I do not doubt that those who work at Diablo Canyon love living here as much as anyone else. I also know that PG&E does not want to store hundreds of tons of high level radioactive waste here any more than I.

PG&E’s current ad campaign states “water, wind, sun” and other renewable energy sources are the future of energy in our state. As the Executive Director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, I agree. The PG&E ad does not say “water, sun, wind and NUCLEAR. Yet PG&E is asking that ratepayers provide $19 million for PG&E to undergo an in-house feasibility study for relicensing its nuclear plant. If PG&E is contemplating nuclear as part of California’s future it should be forthright and say so in its ad campaign..

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility’s goal is to limit the amount of radioactive waste stored on our fragile coast. We are asking our state representatives to support the California Energy Commission’s recommendation for an analysis of the costs, benefits and risks of California’s reliance on aging nuclear plants. Our county and the city of Morro Bay have already sent letters supporting the CEC’s recommended analysis.

The Alliance would like to see non-nuclear replacement power and the resultant high paying jobs, increased property taxes and other benefits of generation in our county. PG&E ads imply that they would like to be part of this vision. The Alliance is not opposed to PG&E, electric generation or union jobs. Our opposition is to the increasing stockpiles of highly radioactive waste adjacent to an earthquake fault and close to our homes, businesses and families.

The California Public Utilities Commission is holding public participation hearings on this and other issues that will increase rates. You have the opportunity to tell the CPUC that enough radioactive waste is enough. San Luis Obispo will have provided electric generation for our state for 40 years by the end of the current license. According to the California Coastal Commission, San Luis Obispo will be storing the radioactive byproduct of this generation “in perpetuity”.

The public will have an opportunity to speak out on license renewal on May 4, 2006. Statements can be made at 2pm or 7pm at the San Luis Obispo Vet’s Hall. If we speak in unison to oppose a $19 million in-house study on license renewal and in favor of ratepayer funding for an independent study to determine the costs, benefits and risks of continued operation by the California Energy Commission, then we will have spoken out for the limitation of highly radioactive waste on our coast.

We will also speak in favor of holding PG&E to its word, water, wind, sun and other renewable sources of energy for our future. The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility wants to see this vision of PG&E succeed.

Someday I want to drive up the coast and know that there will be no more radioactive waste produced in our county. Please attend and speak out for the future of this incredibly beautiful community.

The CPUC’s public meeting is set for May 4, 2006, at the SLO Vets Hall. Meetings will be held at 2pm and 7pm.

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
www.a4nr.org
(858) 337 2703