SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
PG&E says it is not asking for delay in Diablo Canyon renewal process
Posted: Apr 12, 2011 6:48 PM by Nancy Chen
San Luis Obispo County leaders say today PG&E should have gone a step further with its letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday.
PG&E asked the Commission to delay granting a renewal license for Diablo, but a company lawyer clarified in a second letter today it is not asking for a delay in the renewal process.
The County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 today to ask PG&E to do just that until better seismic studies are done.
They say PG&E's move is in the right direction, but Supervisor Bruce Gibson calls it only half a step.
PG&E said yesterday it is responding to the needs of community.
"By asking the NRC to hold off on the final processing of our license renewal application until the seismic studies are complete and then we've submitted those findings to the NRC for review, we've addressed this concern," said PG&E spokesperson Kory Raftery.
But the letter's ambiguous language is making some uneasy.
"I don't think it's an empty gesture," said board chairman Adam Hill. "I do think that it is an important step forward, though it's not necessarily as much as we would like to see."
Supervisors say they're looking out for the safety and wallets of taxpayers; the cost of relicensing and seismic studies are not absorbed by PG&E and are instead they're passed along to ratepayers.
"If we're paying essentially for the relicensing, then we should say, well, don't spend the money until this is done so we know we're not wasting money that you might have to spend later," Hill said.
Hill says the company applied for as much as to $85 million dollars in relicensing efforts alone.
Another question the board raised is whether PG&E or independent seismologists will perform the studies.
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