[NukeNet] Nuclear's future heads to governor - Blakeslee bill would require California to evaluate the costs of continued storage of highly radioactive waste

[MoJo]

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotribune/15414508.htm
To read a copy of the bill: 
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/special_packages/extras/15408807.htm
Nuclear's future heads to governor
Blakeslee bill would require California to evaluate the costs of continued
storage of highly radioactive waste
By David Sneed
dsneed at thetribunenews.com

State energy officials would evaluate the future of nuclear power in
California under a bill sent Thursday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill --introduced by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo
--requires that the state Energy Commission examine the costs incurred by
state and local governments for the continued storage of highly
radioactive waste at California' two nuclear power plants.

It also requires contingency planning for the loss of a large power plant
--such as Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant --as a result of an
earthquake.

The bill was one of a package of three energy bills authored by Blakeslee
that await action by the governor. He has until Sept. 29 to enact or veto
them.

Blakeslee said in a Thursday announcement that the new law would "ensure
that communities like San Luis Obispo --which are most likely to be
affected by seismic risk, nuclear waste and nuclear relicensing decisions
--can be assured that the state has a plan to address these critical
issues."

Numerous local governments and advocacy groups as well as Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. supported the bill.

The state has not enacted legislation concerning nuclear power since its
nuclear plants were constructed in the 1980s.

"This is a huge step to have the state acting on nuclear issues after a
20-year hiatus," said Rochelle Becker of the San Luis Obispo-based
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.

The intent of the bill is to make sure the state has adequately planned in
case an earthquake brings down a power plant that provides significant and
continuous electrical power to California.

Earthquakes are a perennial concern at Diablo Canyon --which is near
several faults --including one just offshore.

It also addresses the local costs of the federal government' continued
delays in opening a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in
the Nevada desert.

Both Diablo Canyon and the San Onofre nuclear generating station in
Southern California --the state' other nuclear power plant --are
constructing above-ground storage facilities to take the overflow from
their used fuel storage pools, which are nearing capacity.

Two other energy-related bills by Blakeslee were approved Thursday by the
Legislature.

One bill allows utilities to apply increased output of small hydroelectric
power plants toward state requirements that power companies increase their
renewable energy portfolios by 1 percent annually. Utilities estimate that
the bill will increase electrical outputs by 5 to 10 percent per plant.

The other requires that state conservation agencies develop
recommendations for speeding the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by
storing more of them underground --a process called carbon sequestration.

Reach David Sneed at 781-7930.
 


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"I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard 
existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime." - Albert Einstein, who would accumulate nearly 100,000 pages of FBI files before he died.

"Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with 
innocent blood": Gandhi, Non-violence in Peace and War, 1948

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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