Diablo Canyon workshop to focus on earthquakes

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  The Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan left many residents of San Luis Obispo County wondering whether a similar accident would be possible at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, located along California’s earthquake-prone Central Coast. It also greatly intensified calls for PG&E to suspend plans to renew the plant’s two operating licenses until a thorough seismic investigation of the earthquake faults around the plant is completed.

• Viewpoint: Seismic safety discussion at Diablo provides cold comfort

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  In late November 2011, PG&E sponsored a three-day public workshop on seismic safety issues for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The workshop brought together PG&E technical staff, their paid consultants and government earth scientists, all of whom are working on various aspects of PG&E’s ongoing seismic hazard assessment of Diablo Canyon, to share their research results.

  As a concerned San Luis Obispo resident with a geologic background, I attended a portion of the conference to get an overview of what has been accomplished to date. My goal was to distill down the diverse technical information presented into a few main takeaway points from the conference, and share these with the local community. I left the conference feeling less secure about living within 10 miles of Diablo Canyon than I did beforehand.

  The conference was divided into two sections: the seismic source section, which focused on locating active faults near Diablo Canyon and the type of earthquake they may produce; and the ground motion

• Viewpoint: Heed the nuclear wake-up call

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  This year, a tragic mix of earthquakes and nuclear power at Fukushima rocked us with a global wake-up call. How has the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission responded? By hitting the snooze button.

  Even as we write, they continue to shuffle their feet at a zombielike pace while debating implementation of the most timid reforms. For residents of seismically situated San Luis Obispo, this comes as no surprise. The NRC’s sleep-inducing obfuscation began just one year ago today, at their SLO “seismic workshop.”

  A year before the Fuku-shima tragedy, the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility met with the chairman of the NRC. We requested that the NRC work in partnership with California agencies on the state’s recommended seismic studies, so that we, “the public,” could feel confident that the results were vetted with the oversight of our state.

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  Batteries and generators are critical components of the plant’s backup safety equipment. They could be all that prevents Diablo’s nightmare scenario — a core meltdown.

• PG&E to discuss seismic hazards

  PG&E to discuss seismic hazards

  PG&E will hold three days of public workshops on Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant earthquake safety issues from Tuesday through Thursday in San Luis Obispo.

  The three daylong sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, 333 Madonna Road. A public question-and-answer session is slated from 6 to 7 p.m. after each session.

  The content of the workshops will be highly technical. It will include analysis of geological and geophysical data recently collected from onshore and offshore areas around Diablo Canyon.