first published week of: 06/27/2016
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
Rooftop solar panels and churning wind turbines are hastening the demise of U.S. nuclear power plants and the safety fears and high operating costs they bring.
The latest example is California's Diablo Canyon twin-reactor facility.
California's largest utility and environmental groups announced a deal Tuesday to shutter the last nuclear power plant in the state.
The move comes as the operators of the country's aging nuclear facilities confront rising repair bills at a time when sources of clean, safer energy cost less.
Competition from a glut of natural gas and surging solar and wind production also has dampened enthusiasm in Europe for nuclear power. So did the 2011 disaster in Fukushima, Japan, when an earthquake and tsunami led to meltdowns and radioactive releases at a nuclear plant.
But China is among the countries still building nuclear power plants, and a U.S. industry group says nuclear remains a vital power source despite the California deal.
The 31-year-old Diablo Canyon plant between Los Angeles and San Francisco will shut down by 2025, decades after its location near seismic faults on ocean bluffs helped spark the anti-nuclear power movement. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. announced plans for the facility in the 1960s. continued…