State lawmakers called on California utilities on Monday to delay efforts to relicense nuclear power plants until the companies complete detailed seismic maps to get a true picture of the risks posed by earthquakes and tsunamis.
State senators raised sharp questions about whether California’s nuclear plants can withstand a major natural disaster such as the one on March 11 that has left Japan scrambling to control radiation coming from some of its reactors.
Lawmakers also questioned whether the utilities have been dragging their feet on conducting three-dimensional seismic studies called for in a 2008 state report to assess the risks posed by offshore faults.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co has applied to renew its license to operate the two reactors at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo.
“I would ask sincerely that PG&E suspend or withdraw that application” until the additional seismic mapping is completed, said Senator Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo. He said he would pursue legislation to thwart the utility until the mapping is done.
Lloyd Cluff, a seismic expert for PG&E, said work started in October for shallow mapping and the utility will apply next month for a permit for deep mapping down to 10km below the surface.
Edison has applied to the Public Utilities Commission for permission to charge ratepayers an estimated US$21.6 million for similar studies at the San Onofre plant north of San Diego along the Southern California coast, said Caroline McAndrews, director of licensing at the plant.
The license for San Onofre expires in 2022 and Edison has not yet applied to renew it.
Outside the hearing room, Daniel Hirsch, a lecturer in nuclear policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz, noted California’s reactors are in one of the most seismically active areas of the world after Japan.
“What’s going on in Japan could happen here,” he said.
Japan’s plants were not designed to handle the ground movement or wave heights they were subjected to this month, said Steve David, director of site services at Diablo Canyon.
Diablo Canyon and San Onofre have been designed to survive much larger forces, utility representatives testified.
“We’ve gone back this week and verified that [safety] equipment is in place and that the operators have been trained,” David said.
The senators are reviewing whether California’s nuclear power plants and natural gas pipelines are safe from earthquakes, as Japan’s crisis raises uncomfortable comparisons to the nuclear plants on the US West Coast.
“Japan has always been a leader in preparedness,” said Senator Ellen Corbett, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery.
“It’s time to revisit the safety of these plants in light of what we have learned from Japan,” Corbett said.
The utilities contend the plants have been designed and located to protect them from the most serious natural threats considered possible at the sites.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in