Courtesy

Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo)

Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Lius Obispo) criticized the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for refusing to suspend the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s relicensing process.

The NRC announced it would forge ahead with the relicensing process but delay issuing permits needed to continue operating the plant from 2025 to 2045 until plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric has studied a seismic fault that passes near the facility.

In a May 31 letter to PG&E, the NRC said the delay is “necessary” because the operating permits cannot be issued until approval is obtained from the California Coastal Commission.

The Coastal Commission will not approve the extensions until the seismic studies are complete, Tom Luster, an analyst with the Commission, told The Bay Citizen.

Blakeslee and other local lawmakers have called on the NRC to suspend Diablo Canyon relicensing work until the effects of an earthquake along the Shoreline Fault are known.

“The vague assurances that supplemental reports might be filed at a later date demonstrates the NRC has learned nothing in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear disaster,” Blakeslee said in a statement.