LOS ANGELES (CN) — Environmentalists sued the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday claiming its approval of more than $1 billion in federal funding to keep the aging Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California running was based on an outdated environmental analysis.
The Energy Department purported to satisfy its National Environmental Policy Act obligations "by adopting an over 50-year-old environmental analysis, along with other outdated and incomplete NEPA documents" that taken together are "grossly deficient" to satisfy the departments obligations for the funding, Friends of the Earth says in a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.
According to the nonprofit, which was founded in 1969 in part to oppose the construction of the nuclear plant on California's Central Coast, the Energy Department's decision in January to fund Diablo Canyon beyond the previously anticipated shutdown dates of 2024 and 2025 ignores the fact that the environmental analysis didn't contemplate the risks beyond those expiration dates.
Even in the best of times, all nuclear reactors carry a risk that an accident will lead to radiation release, potentially at catastrophic levels, the organization says.
"Diablo Canyon presents an even riskier case, given a significant lack of maintenance or upgrades at the facility, recent seismic discoveries in the area, and the plant’s use of an outdated cooling mechanisms," the group says in its complaint.
Representatives of the Energy Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent after regular business hours.
California's only remaining nuclear power had been slated to be shut down by next year. But the state's ambitious clean energy goals have made it necessary to continue to operate the plant, Governor Gavin Newsom has argued, to avoid blackouts. The Biden administration approved $1.1 billion to keep the plant running.
While the plant has exceeded its original 40-year operating licenses, PG&E maintains it's continually upgraded and undergoes regular inspections by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission — with strong reviews.
Diablo Canyon, which generates between 6% and 8% of California's energy, was set to close both of its reactors by 2025 following a 2018 agreement between PG&E, unions and environmentalists. The deal was supported by Newsom, who was the state's lieutenant governor at the time.
That agreement became a problem in the wake of 2022’s record heat wave, which triggered blackout concerns for Newsom and led him to pressure the Legislature to pass a bill that would keep Diablo Canyon open past 2025. Lawmakers approved a plan to give PG&E a $1.4 billion forgivable loan to keep Diablo Canyon running until 2030.
The Friends of the Earth accuses the Energy Department of violating the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, and seeks a court order vacating the department's approval of the funding for the plant.
The nonprofit is represented by Michael Lozeau and Richard Drury of Lozeau Drury LLP in Oakland, and by Jessica Townsend and William Eubanks II of Eubanks & Associates PLLC in Washington.
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