Praise for the employees of Diablo Canyon

Hooray for the hundreds of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant employees who do impeccable work to make sure the power plant delivers 2,250 megawatts of clean energy to the customers who need it and enjoy it.

I led tours at Diablo Canyon for 23 years and personally know many of these employees in many parts of the plant. These employees are proud — and should be — of the excellent work they do and of the plant’s excellent safety and reliability record.

Training for these great employees is a high priority; it is mandatory, consistent and required for everyone, likely more than any other industry. Example: Every five weeks, the control room operators of each shift go through a week of continuous training and testing.

It’s their commitment to excellency that makes Diablo Canyon the clean, safe, reliable power plant it is.

There is no guarantee the state will meet its goal of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030.

Diablo Canyon — a clean, safe reliable source of electricity — will need to be replaced by energy produced by fossil fuels, which will greatly increase the air pollutants the citizens of our state will breathe. It will also force these employees of Diablo Canyon who are our friends, neighbors and family to move with their families to find jobs elsewhere.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Praise for the employees of Diablo Canyon."