County may seek a spot on quake panel

Similar stories:

• Bruce Gibson will join Diablo Canyon science review

  Bruce Gibson will join Diablo Canyon science review

  San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson will join a panel of scientists who will review seismic studies being done on faults around Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

  Last week, an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission approved a request by the county to have a representative on the Diablo Canyon Independent Peer Review Panel.

  Gibson holds a doctorate in geophysics and has published research in seismic reflection survey techniques, including three-dimensional imaging like the kind to be used in the Diablo Canyon work.

• Viewpoint: Diablo seismic study is crucial to understanding risks

  Viewpoint: Diablo seismic study is crucial to understanding risks

  For as long as it has existed, the issues surrounding Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant have been complex and the stakes have been high. The production of huge quantities of electrical power, with its enormous economic impact, brings with it difficult discussions on issues such as the handling of high-level nuclear waste and the safety of plant operations in a seismically-active region. We have long wrestled with the costs, benefits and risks of this powerful facility.

  In the devastating aftermath of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, our concerns about risk have been raised further. The unthinkable did occur in Japan: An earthquake and tsunami much larger than expected caused a nuclear disaster that will not be resolved in the foreseeable future. That event has reasonably caused us to re-examine the risks of nuclear power and its vulnerability to natural disaster.

  Assessments of earthquake threats to Diablo Canyon were under way well before the Fukushima event. Pacific Gas and Electric has studied

• Top 10 Stories of 2011: No. 5 — Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant reacts to Japan’s Fukushima disaster

  Top 10 Stories of 2011: No. 5 — Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant reacts to Japan’s Fukushima disaster

  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.

• PG&E altering plans for Diablo Canyon offshore fault surveying

  PG&E altering plans for Diablo Canyon offshore fault surveying

  At the recommendation of a panel of state geologists, PG&E has modified its plans to conduct high-energy seismic surveys off Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant later this year.

  The new plans shift the emphasis of the surveys south to San Luis Obispo Bay where the regionally dominant Hosgri Fault intersects the newly discovered Shoreline Fault. The duration of the surveys could also be cut back, which may reduce effects of the work on marine life.

  The plan is under review by the state panel of scientists called the Independent Peer Review Panel, which includes county Supervisor Bruce Gibson, as well as the State Lands Commission, which is the permitting authority for the project.

• Dan Walters: It's time to kill California's bullet train boondoggle

  Dan Walters: It's time to kill California's bullet train boondoggle

  It's one thing for politicians, ordinary citizens, lawyers or even media pundits to say that California's bullet train project is fatally flawed and should be scrapped before it becomes a hopeless money pit.