SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the closure of California's last nuclear power plant (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Local officials are expressing support for an agreement to close the California's last nuclear energy plant in nine years.
Representatives of the San Luis Obispo sheriff's office, school district, city council and county supervisor say the deal announced last week provides ample time to plan for a safe closure and transition about 1,400 workers away from the plant.
State lands officials are considering signing off on the agreement between Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and environmental groups to close the Diablo Canyon twin-reactor facility 20 years earlier than planned.
PG&E is asking the commission Tuesday to renew a lease allowing it to operate after 2018.
John Geesman of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility says the state should conduct one of its strict environmental reviews before approving a lease, however short.
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12 a.m.
California regulators are considering whether to drop their longstanding environmental objections to the state's last nuclear power plant in return for its promise to close early.
The State Lands Commission will consider foregoing an environmental review before renewing a contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in light of its agreement to close Diablo Canyon in nine years.
California's largest utility and environmental groups announced a deal last week to close the Central California twin-reactor facility by 2025.
The commission is the first of multiple regulatory hurdles facing the agreement to shut down the 31-year-old plant nearly 20 years ahead of its planned termination.
Fears about the seismic faults near the plant have dogged the project since its conception in the 1960s, and helped spark the national anti-nuclear power movement.
