Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Local Lecture Addresses Nuclear Costs

The Sustainability Alliance of Southern California last night hosted a discussion: “Nuclear Power in Southern California – Can We Afford It?”

Held at the California Center for Sustainable Energy in Clairemont, the few dozen attendees largely boasted energy backgrounds or experience in activism related to nuclear power and/or green energy. Featured speakers were Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility executive director Rochelle Becker and counsel for the Alliance/former executive director and commissioner of the California Energy Commission John Geesman.

A recurring theme of the talk was the cost of nuclear power, touted as a cheap alternative to gas-fired power plants or other means of power.

“For San Onofre, [the original cost estimate] was under $180 million dollars. But it was $4.7 billion dollars when finished,” Becker said. She also pointed out that the cost of new seismic studies needed due to the discovery of earthquake faults near the plant has risen from an original estimated cost of $21 million to a new request by plant operator Southern California Edison to bill its customers as well as those of San Diego Gas & Electric up to $64 million for the studies.

Of course, there’s also the issue of the new steam generators at the plant, which cost ratepayers up to $782 million (the final cost has not yet been disclosed) and are failing after less than two years in service, causing both reactors at San Onofre to sit idle since January.

A new investigation on the total damage from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is due out soon, but some information has already been released suggesting that degradation of tubes carrying radioactive liquid through the system is more significant than previously believed.

Another concern is changes in environmental law that will require the plants discontinue using the “once-through cooling” method that involves filtering seawater through the plant and releasing it, at a significantly raised temperature, into the ocean. Environmentalists have long derided this practice as harmful to marine life.

Finally, there’s the issue of nuclear waste storage. Tons of waste, generated since the plant first went online, has been sitting in exposed storage pools, vulnerable to system failure resulting from a natural disaster such as the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck at Fukushima or to terrorist attack. Scientists have long recommended dry cask storage, but even if this measure is implemented, current plans call for the waste to be stored along the coast for up to 250 years.

“Our position is to phase these nuclear plants out at the end of their license,” said Becker. “Of course, Edison has managed to phase theirs out at the moment.”

Geesman reminded the audience that SDG&E, which owns 20 percent of the plant, had originally rejected the idea of replacing the generators, given the upcoming expiration of the facility’s license, and explained that Edison had used an accounting sleight of hand to deem the generator replacement as “operations and maintenance,” rather than capital improvements, allowing their cost to be shifted from the utility’s shareholders to their captive consumers.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”

The Sustainability Alliance of Southern California last night hosted a discussion: “Nuclear Power in Southern California – Can We Afford It?”

Held at the California Center for Sustainable Energy in Clairemont, the few dozen attendees largely boasted energy backgrounds or experience in activism related to nuclear power and/or green energy. Featured speakers were Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility executive director Rochelle Becker and counsel for the Alliance/former executive director and commissioner of the California Energy Commission John Geesman.

A recurring theme of the talk was the cost of nuclear power, touted as a cheap alternative to gas-fired power plants or other means of power.

“For San Onofre, [the original cost estimate] was under $180 million dollars. But it was $4.7 billion dollars when finished,” Becker said. She also pointed out that the cost of new seismic studies needed due to the discovery of earthquake faults near the plant has risen from an original estimated cost of $21 million to a new request by plant operator Southern California Edison to bill its customers as well as those of San Diego Gas & Electric up to $64 million for the studies.

Of course, there’s also the issue of the new steam generators at the plant, which cost ratepayers up to $782 million (the final cost has not yet been disclosed) and are failing after less than two years in service, causing both reactors at San Onofre to sit idle since January.

A new investigation on the total damage from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is due out soon, but some information has already been released suggesting that degradation of tubes carrying radioactive liquid through the system is more significant than previously believed.

Another concern is changes in environmental law that will require the plants discontinue using the “once-through cooling” method that involves filtering seawater through the plant and releasing it, at a significantly raised temperature, into the ocean. Environmentalists have long derided this practice as harmful to marine life.

Finally, there’s the issue of nuclear waste storage. Tons of waste, generated since the plant first went online, has been sitting in exposed storage pools, vulnerable to system failure resulting from a natural disaster such as the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck at Fukushima or to terrorist attack. Scientists have long recommended dry cask storage, but even if this measure is implemented, current plans call for the waste to be stored along the coast for up to 250 years.

“Our position is to phase these nuclear plants out at the end of their license,” said Becker. “Of course, Edison has managed to phase theirs out at the moment.”

Geesman reminded the audience that SDG&E, which owns 20 percent of the plant, had originally rejected the idea of replacing the generators, given the upcoming expiration of the facility’s license, and explained that Edison had used an accounting sleight of hand to deem the generator replacement as “operations and maintenance,” rather than capital improvements, allowing their cost to be shifted from the utility’s shareholders to their captive consumers.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.