Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour - 01.18.19

WILL PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC’S BANKRUPTCY SHUT THE DIABLO CANYON NUKES?

No question of human survival is more urgent than shutting the huge twin reactors surrounded by earthquake faults at Diablo Canyon, California.  Perched above the Pacific, 9 miles west of San Luis Obispo, these aging, defective, decrepit atomic behemoths threaten all of California and the United States with radioactive extinction.

We’re joined by long-time utilities attorney JOHN GEESMAN and expert/activist DONNA GILMORE to explore how PG&E’s looming bankruptcy could give the state of California the leverage to force at least three critical inspections at Diablo.  The mega-utility in 2010 blew up part of San Bruno, killing eight people.  It has been linked to at least 17 of the 2017-8 fires that ravaged northern California, killing scores of people while doing billions in damage and destroying one of the world’s most critical eco-systems.

PG&E must now go to the state for major financial, legal and other assistance.  In return, California might well demand a close look at the plant’s potential embrittlement problems, the likelihood that the reactor pressure vessel is cracked, the critical deficiencies in its waste management protocols, and much more.

Diablo Unit One is schedule for a 40-day refueling outage in February.  Will the state intervene to demand its safety certification where everyone knows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will take a pass?
This discussion with Donna and John may set the tone for one of humankind’s most important life-or-death decisions.