Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy & Nuclear Issues

Nuclear Energy In California

In 2010, nuclear provided almost 14 percent of the entire California power mix (which includes out of state imports). California has two operating nuclear power plants: Diablo Canyon (2,160 megawatts), near San Luis Obispo, and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) (2,150 megawatts), about midway between Los Angeles and San Diego. Nuclear units at both plants use ocean water for cooling.

Oversight for nuclear energy rests with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates U.S. commercial nuclear power plants and the civilian use of nuclear materials.

Energy Commission Reports

Assembly Bill 1632 Report - Nuclear Power Plant Assessment (Docket # 07-AB-1632). Report was adopted November 20, 2008.

Nuclear Power in California: 2007 Status Report - Final Consultant Report, publication No. CEC-100-2007-005-F. Posted October 17, 2006. (Acrobat PDF, 332 pages, 4.4 megabytes - note size!)

Nuclear Power In California: Status Report - Final Consultant Report, publication No. CEC-150-2006-001-F. Posted March 7, 2006. (Acrobat PDF, 198 pages, 2.7 megabytes - note size!)

2007 Integrated Energy Policy Report.

Issues

Diablo Canyon - Double Fault: PBS Looks at Nuclear Safety at PGE's Diablo Canyon - Article by California Watch, July 15, 2011

U.S. D.O.E. Shipments of Transuranic Waste to the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico

Fact Sheet on Proposal (Updated 1/18/2011)
Letter to Jessie H. Roberson, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management from James D. Boyd, California Energy Commissioner, and D.O. Helmick, Commissioner, California Highway Patrol. Dated December 23, 2003. (Posted: January 7, 2004, Acrobat PDF file, 3 pages, 20 kilobytes).
Link to Western Governors' Association and letters it has sent.
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's News Release on Postponement of Shipments July 9, 2003.
Letter to Ms. Jessie H. Roberson, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management from James D. Boyd, California Energy Commissioner, and D.O. Helmick, Commissioner, California Highway Patrol. Dated July 2, 2003. (Posted: July 10, 2003, Acrobat PDF file, 4 pages, 18 kilobytes).
U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein's Comments on Shipments July 3, 2003.
Western Governors Association Letter dated July 8, 2003. (Links to WGA website: www.westgov.org/wga/testim/abraham7-8-03.pdf, Acrobat PDF file)
Letter to Ms. Jessie H. Roberson, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management from James D. Boyd, California Energy Commissioner, and D.O. Helmick, Commissioner, California Highway Patrol. Dated June 13, 2003. (Posted: July 10, 2003, Acrobat PDF file, 2 pages, 12 kilobytes).