Federal judges in August decided not to let environmentalists opposed to the restart of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant reargue their case before an entire appeals court.
The judges did not give a reason for their ruling in a decision published Aug. 5 on the online docket for the case in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The environmentalists may still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the land and an independent branch of the federal government.
In June, the environmental groups, led by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, asked for a rehearing before the entire Ninth Circuit after losing their case this spring following oral arguments before a panel of three appellate judges.
In April, the Ninth Circuit panel unanimously ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not break the law by allowing plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)to operate Diablo Canyon’s two reactors beyond the expiration of their current federal licenses while NRC considered the utility’s application to extend the sunset date of those licenses.
The Ninth Circuit ruling also allows NRC to proceed with its consideration of PG&E’s application without conducting further environmental reviews of Diablo Canyon’s operations. The plant is located about 12 miles southwest of the city of San Luis Obispo.
PG&E applied for a 20-year extension, though the state of California, through its California Public Utilities Commission, has authorized only a five-year extension, to 2030. Diablo Canyon Unit 1’s license will turn 40 and expire on Nov. 2, 2024. Unit 2’s will expire on Aug. 26 2025. NRC has said it might not finish reviewing PG&E’s application until a month or so after Unit 2’s license expires.
The commission gave PG&E permission to keep the plant open while the federal review is pending after California in 2022 repealed a 2018 state law that had forced PG&E to close the plant in 2025. PG&E got billions of dollars in state and federal subsidies to prepare the plant for five more years of operation.