PSR-LA Statement on Pending Closure of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA) applauds PG&E’s decision to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant when its license expires in 2025.
“Each of Diablo Canyon’s nuclear reactors contains 1,000 times the radioactivity of the Hiroshima bomb,” said Robert Dodge MD, President of PSR-LA. “There are four nearby earthquake faults capable of causing ground motion far greater that than the plant was designed to withstand – a disaster waiting to happen. The closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, along with plans to transition to renewable energy, is a victory for public health.”
Once shuttered, the plant will still have to wrestle with storage for the highly toxic and long lived spent fuel generated by its operation. Spent fuel is more than 10 times more radioactive than the core of the reactor and presents ongoing safety and security concerns.
Given the health and safety risks of nuclear power plants both during and after operation, PSR-LA advocates for a transition away from nuclear power to clean, safe, and renewable forms of energy.
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PSR-LA is the largest chapter of the national organization, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the American recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
