The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has turned down a request from operator Pacific Gas & Electric to reopen its 2009 application to extend the operating licences of the Diablo Canyon nuclear station’s two reactors, which are to shut down in 2024 and 2025.
In October 2022, PG&E asked the NRC to resume consideration of an application initially submitted in 2009 to extend the station’s life. That application was later was withdrawn after PG&E announced plans in 2016 to shut down the reactors.
In September 2022, California legislators had voted to extend the life of the station by five years as protection against possible blackouts – provided the federal government pays much of the cost. That effectively meant the utility’s 2016 deal to close the facility could be cancelled.
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