Gavin Newsom: Shut Down the Diablo Nuclear Reactors

Governor Gavin Newsom

We the undersigned strongly urge California Governor Gavin Newsom to take action to shut down the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors as quickly as possible.

The two atomic reactors at Diablo Canyon are surrounded by earthquake faults whose seismic shocks they cannot withstand, according to former Nuclear Regulatory Commission resident inspector Michael Peck.  There is no space for radioactive waste storage at the site beyond 2025.  

Unit One in particular is dangerously embrittled.  Many key welds there were done with metallic amalgams immediately discontinued on other reactors for safety reasons.

Diablo's cooling systems are not legal for long-term use.  The reactors are run by Pacific Gas & Electric, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing eight people with an avoidable 2010 disaster in San Bruno and more than eighty with fires they helped set in northern California.

More than 50,000 Californians work in the solar industry today versus less than 1,500 in the aging work force at Diablo, whose closure would result in the creation of thousands of jobs.

Diablo has no private liability insurance.  It is vulnerable to terror attack. A likely catastrophe would threaten far more than ten million humans in southern California alone.  

For these and many more reasons we ask that you honor the solemn agreement signed in 2016 by local residents, labor unions, PG&E, the NRC, the state, environmental groups and others to shut both reactors by 2025, if not sooner.  

To: Governor Gavin Newsom
From: [Your Name]

We the undersigned strongly urge California Governor Gavin Newsom to take action to shut down the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors as quickly as possible.​

The two atomic reactors at Diablo Canyon are surrounded by earthquake faults whose seismic shocks they cannot withstand, according to former Nuclear Regulatory Commission resident inspector Michael Peck. There is no space for radioactive waste storage at the site beyond 2025.

Unit One in particular is dangerously embrittled. Many key welds there were done with metallic amalgams immediately discontinued on other reactors for safety reasons.

Diablo's cooling systems are not legal for long-term use. The reactors are run by Pacific Gas & Electric, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing eight people with an avoidable 2010 disaster in San Bruno and more than eighty with fires they helped set in northern California.

More than 50,000 Californians work in the solar industry today versus less than 1,500 in the aging work force at Diablo, whose closure would result in the creation of thousands of jobs.

Diablo has no private liability insurance. It is vulnerable to terror attack. A likely catastrophe would threaten far more than ten million humans in southern California alone.

For these and many more reasons we ask that you honor the solemn agreement signed in 2016 by local residents, labor unions, PG&E, the NRC, the state, environmental groups and others to shut both reactors by 2025, if not sooner.