Why is a bankrupt utility being forced to black itself out still running two atomic reactors that could destroy California?
Why has the governor, who publicly attacks Pacific Gas & Electric for its corruption and incompetence, refused to inspect these two ancient, crumbling nukes?
Why is a legislator trying to keep two un-inspected, uninsured crumbling nukes open for years?
For millions of Californians, these life/death questions are meeting lethal silence.
Let’s review:
Pacific Gas & Electric recently burned down much of northern California, killing 80 people and obliterating the town of Paradise. Its poles and power lines are ancient and decrepit.
So during a recent wind storm it blacked out much of its service territory rather than risk another huge fire.
In other words: this multi-billion-dollar mega-utility can’t be trusted to deliver electricity in a moderate breeze.
So 500,000 Californians lost power (many in areas where there was no wind at all). PG&E was not forced to upgrade its grid, bury power lines underground, or help its customers go solar, with batteries to make transmission moot.
In 2010, PG&E blew up part of San Bruno, killing eight people. It was convicted of a federal felony conviction and has its very own probation officer.
During this latest blackout PG&E execs indulged in an expensive wine country celebration, surrounded by vineyards they’d torched.
Yet they still run two nukes whose radioactive clouds could destroy California.
Three of the five Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners are Trump appointees. They are ending reactor inspections, and give utilities like PG&E any maintenance waivers they want.
Diablo is badly embrittled and has a terrifying a mega-list of rotted components. Governor Newsom has done nothing.
All but one of 96 licensed US reactors are more than 30 years old. Like the pair at Diablo, they’re crumbling, unregulated, uninsured and ever-more likely to explode.
Because of the huge advances in green power’s Solartopia big four—wind, solar, batteries and LED/efficiency—power from none of these reactors is needed. Diablo is scheduled to close by 2025.
But now a legislator named Jordan Cunningham wants to reclassify Diablo as “renewable” to let it operate even longer.
The health, ecological and economic impacts of the next reactor explosion will be apocalyptic. Diablo is surrounded by fault lines that could turn it to radioactive rubble, making much of California a forever wasteland. Likewise, dozens of other crumbling reactors upwind of our major cities.
PG&E can’t even keep the power flowing in a moderate wind storm. Why is it being trusted to run two dying reactors poised to kill millions?
As Trump clones gut the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it’s a question we must answer for each of our 96 licensed reactors—before the next ones explode.
Harvey Wasserman’s The People’s Spiral of US History: From Deganawidah to Solartopia is available via solartopia@gmail.com. His California Solartopia Show is broadcast at KPFK-Pacifica/90.7FM in Los Angeles; Green Power & Wellness is podcast via prn.fm. A petition asking that Diablo be inspected can be found at www.solartopia.org
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PG&E threatens nuke holocaust while Sacramento fiddles
Posted on October 16, 2019 by Harvey Wasserman
Why is a bankrupt utility being forced to black itself out still running two atomic reactors that could destroy California?
Why has the governor, who publicly attacks Pacific Gas & Electric for its corruption and incompetence, refused to inspect these two ancient, crumbling nukes?
Why is a legislator trying to keep two un-inspected, uninsured crumbling nukes open for years?
For millions of Californians, these life/death questions are meeting lethal silence.
Let’s review:
Pacific Gas & Electric recently burned down much of northern California, killing 80 people and obliterating the town of Paradise. Its poles and power lines are ancient and decrepit.
So during a recent wind storm it blacked out much of its service territory rather than risk another huge fire.
In other words: this multi-billion-dollar mega-utility can’t be trusted to deliver electricity in a moderate breeze.
So 500,000 Californians lost power (many in areas where there was no wind at all). PG&E was not forced to upgrade its grid, bury power lines underground, or help its customers go solar, with batteries to make transmission moot.
In 2010, PG&E blew up part of San Bruno, killing eight people. It was convicted of a federal felony conviction and has its very own probation officer.
During this latest blackout PG&E execs indulged in an expensive wine country celebration, surrounded by vineyards they’d torched.
Yet they still run two nukes whose radioactive clouds could destroy California.
Three of the five Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners are Trump appointees. They are ending reactor inspections, and give utilities like PG&E any maintenance waivers they want.
Diablo is badly embrittled and has a terrifying a mega-list of rotted components. Governor Newsom has done nothing.
All but one of 96 licensed US reactors are more than 30 years old. Like the pair at Diablo, they’re crumbling, unregulated, uninsured and ever-more likely to explode.
Because of the huge advances in green power’s Solartopia big four—wind, solar, batteries and LED/efficiency—power from none of these reactors is needed. Diablo is scheduled to close by 2025.
But now a legislator named Jordan Cunningham wants to reclassify Diablo as “renewable” to let it operate even longer.
The health, ecological and economic impacts of the next reactor explosion will be apocalyptic. Diablo is surrounded by fault lines that could turn it to radioactive rubble, making much of California a forever wasteland. Likewise, dozens of other crumbling reactors upwind of our major cities.
PG&E can’t even keep the power flowing in a moderate wind storm. Why is it being trusted to run two dying reactors poised to kill millions?
As Trump clones gut the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it’s a question we must answer for each of our 96 licensed reactors—before the next ones explode.
Harvey Wasserman’s The People’s Spiral of US History: From Deganawidah to Solartopia is available via solartopia@gmail.com. His California Solartopia Show is broadcast at KPFK-Pacifica/90.7FM in Los Angeles; Green Power & Wellness is podcast via prn.fm. A petition asking that Diablo be inspected can be found at www.solartopia.org