"If natural gas is banned, then nuclear will have to make up the shortage It can take 10 to 12 years to add new nuclear capacity, from the planning and licensing phase to completion of construction. We should add a few years this being California" . . .
"As the California Coastal Commission agreed this month to keep the state’s last nuclear energy plant open for at least five more years, the Trump administration announced federal funding for the development of small modular nuclear reactors.
"The Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo Power Plant, the only remaining nuclear energy facility in a state, was saved this month from an imminent death when the Coastal Commission voted to issue the permit the plant needs to obtain a federal license to operate for another 20 years. The twin-reactor site has been providing safe, clean and reliable electrical power for four decades.
"Nationally, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Holtec Government Services in Michigan were chosen to develop light-water small modular reactor projects. Each will receive up to $400 million in federal cost-shared funding.
"Champions of limited government will dispute the federal government’s involvement rather than allowing the market to make that choice.
"They should. It’s a legitimate gripe.
"But $800 million is a small amount of the private capital to be invested in nuclear power once public policy clears the way for the marketplace. Government has picked nuclear energy to be a loser for decades, suppressing its growth with regulatory and licensing hurdles, and even state-level bans on new plant construction (including California’s almost half-century-old in-effect moratorium). The number of domestic nuclear reactors peaked at 112 but now there are only about 90, says the Energy Information Administration, and 23 are decommissioning as of August.
"Maybe it’s time to make up for the penalties imposed without justification on nuclear power?
"California has been at the forefront of banning nuclear power, but some lawmakers have been considering rolling back the ban so the state can meet its clean energy goals. A bill was ntroduced earlier this year to exempt small modular reactors – the same technology that administration is betting on – from the nuclear ban." . . .
Kerry Jackson is the William Clement Fellow in California Reform at the Pacific Research institute and co-author of the PRI book, “The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide.”
In the 1970s, Tunnel Dweller worked on construction of the Diablo plant. It was daily beset with phony bomb threats causing evacuations which soon became ignored. Soon we might see PG&E workers walking around searching with flashlights and we'd say : "Bomb threat, huh?". They would merely smile and nod, we'd go back to work and that would be that. We figured it was Mothers For Peace or some disgruntled union worker. TD
