Victory in Sacramento: CBG and other Groups Block Attempt to allow New Nuclear Power Plants in California
A few days ago, on April 10, 2023, CBG and other groups succeeded in defeating a bill in Sacramento that would have reversed California’s 1976 Nuclear Safeguards Act. The Act prohibits new nuclear plants in the state until and unless there is a solution to the waste problem.
The waste problem is critical. When a nuclear plant shuts down, a safe and permanent storage facility must be available to take the radioactive and highly dangerous left-over waste. At this time, however, no such facility exists. As a result, when a nuclear plant is shutdown in California, high-level radioactive waste from the plant remains “temporarily” stored on site, without solution. Prime examples of this are the Humboldt Bay plant, that was shutdown in 1976, and the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which was permanently retired in 2013.
The purpose of the Nuclear Safeguards Act is simple: until there is a safe place for nuclear waste from nuclear power plants to go, no new nuclear power plants should be built in California.
The proposed Bill to reverse the Nuclear Safeguards Act was defeated in the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, with 7 Assembly Members voting against the proposal, 3 voting for, and 1 not voting. This is a big victory for the environment and public health.
Below are links to the letter in opposition to the Bill that CBG helped generate and the Committee’s analysis on the proposed Bill. CBG sends a big thank you to all who helped in this effort.
Read our joint Opposition letter here (.pdf)
Read the Committee’s analysis here (.pdf)