By David Sneed - The Tribune

In a bizarre turn of events, a hopelessly deadlocked county Planning Commission on Thursday denied a steam generator replacement project at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant solely for the purpose of passing it on to the Board of Supervisors.

Plant owners Pacific Gas and Electric Co. say they are considering what to do next. The utility must appeal at least one part of the project to the supervisors, but is considering modifying another part to avoid scrutiny by the state Coastal Commission.

"The whole process of appeal is something we are considering," Diablo Canyon spokesman Jeff Lewis said.

The $700 million project calls for the replacement of eight large components that transfer heat from the plant's two nuclear reactors to steam-powered electrical generators. Without new steam generators, the power plant would be forced to shut down in 2014, a decade short of its license expiration.

Planning Commissioners Sarah Christie and Bruce Gibson were highly critical of the state's environmental analysis of the project and wanted additional environmental concessions from PG&E. Conversely, Commissioners Bob Roos and Eugene Mehlschau wanted to approve the project.

The panel's potential tie-breaker, Commissioner Penny Rappa, declared a conflict of interest and stepped down before the hearing started. Her husband is a PG&E employee.

The denial capped an 11-hour hearing that included far-ranging discussions about the future of the power plant and the limits of the Planning Commission's authority. It also featured numerous 2-2 votes and motions that died without a second as the commissioners struggled to find common ground on the contentious issue.

Assistant County Planning Director Pat Beck said she had never seen anything like it.

"I told my staff I wouldn't have missed this for the world," she said after the meeting.

Focus on buildings

Theoretically, the question before the commission was a simple one: Should PG&E be given permission to build five temporary buildings and one permanent structure?

The temporary facilities would be used during the steam generator replacement work. These buildings are in the coastal zone and under the purview of the Coastal Commission.

PG&E is considering forgoing the use of those temporary buildings to bypass the Coastal Commission. Instead, the utility would use existing buildings at the plant.

In an interview, Peter Douglas, the Coastal Commission's executive director, said PG&E's efforts to sidestep his agency will be unsuccessful because the commission must review the project in any case to determine if it conforms to federal environmental laws.

The permanent building will be used to store the old steam generators, which are considered low-level radioactive waste. This building is inland of the coastal zone and therefore would not need Coastal Commission approval.

Christie and Douglas have questioned the geologic stability of the canyon behind the plant where the storage building would go.

"It is stupid for them to put the steam generators in an unstable place just to avoid the jurisdiction of the Coastal Commission," Douglas said.

The project also entails a $1.5 million donation by PG&E to improve access to the historic Point San Luis Lighthouse and fund a hiking-and-biking trail connecting Avila Beach to Port San Luis. Support of those access provisions was one of the only aspects of the project that the commissioners could agree on.

Back-and-forth criticism

Gibson and Christie were critical of the environmental analysis done by the state Public Utilities Commission. That agency's report failed to analyze the fact that replacing the steam generators will set the stage for PG&E to apply to renew the plant's operating license for 20 more years after the current expiration date of 2025.

Christie also criticized the county Planning Department's failure to challenge the adequacy of that environmental analysis. "That put us in such an untenable position," she said.

Gibson and Christie also wanted to consider requiring PG&E to make additional environmental concessions, such as increased funding for the Avila to Port San Luis trail, in exchange for its building permits. They argued that replacing the steam generators will significantly prolong the nuclear plant's effects on the environment.

Roos and Mehlschau balked, saying $1.5 million in improved access was enough mitigation for one permanent storage building and a handful of temporary ones.

"This is not a bottomless pit," Roos said.

Christie and Gibson repeatedly tried to pass a motion to continue the hearing to a later date. The other two commissioners voted against that, saying delays would be unfair to PG&E.

Donna Jacobs, the power plant's director of nuclear operations, said the utility cannot afford any delays. Replacing major components of a nuclear plant requires lots of lead time and the replacements are scheduled to begin in early 2008.

Roos and Mehlschau tried several times to pass motions approving the project, but they all failed in 2 to 2 votes. After it became evident that the commission was at an unbreakable impasse, Roos made several motions to deny the project.

Christie resisted those attempts, saying that she preferred to keep the project at the planning commission level as long as possible in the hope that PG&E would not be able to do the replacement project and the plant could be forced to shut down in 2014.

That outcome was unlikely, said Deputy County Counsel Tim McNulty. County supervisors could break the impasse by replacing their planning commissioners and PG&E would likely sue the county to move the project along, he said.

In the end, Gibson voted to deny the project, stating clearly that he did so reluctantly and only to move the project along the regulatory process. The final vote was Roos, Mehlschau and Gibson voting to deny and Christie abstaining.

The vote was a pleasant surprise for anti-nuclear activists.

"For once, it won't be us who are filing an appeal," said Morgan Rafferty, a San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace activist.

Email David Sneed.

See the County Planning Commission report on Diablo Canyon's steam generator replacement project (13MB pdf)

Access article on-line