Supes Lobby for Fault Line Study

Echoing a vote by San Luis Obispo County supervisors, Santa Barbara County supervisors voted this week to lobby the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and request that a fully fleshed-out study of the new fault line discovered just offshore of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant be completed and independently reviewed ahead of any decision by the NRC to potentially relicense the plant. Pacific Gas and Electric, which operates Diablo, officially began the lengthy process of applying for a relicensing in November 2009 with hopes of receiving final word from the NRC sometime in spring 2012. However, the 3-D seismic study — which, it is worth noting, PG&E is in full support of and plans to pay for via a mild ratepayer hike — is not expected to be complete until 2013.