Paige Blankenbuehler asks the question ....Is the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant good or bad for the climate? At the end of June, 2016. nearly 100 environmentalists (often aka Nuclear Adversaries) marched through the streets of Oakland, California, stopping to picket an unlikely foe ... the Sierra Club. While most of their comrades waved signs outside the concrete building expansive front windows, a small group took the elevators upstairs to the main office and began chanting ... We are on a mission to stop all emissions ... But you are wrong about one thing ... nuclear power, their signs said.
The protest followed Pacific Gas and Electric announcement that it would close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in 2025. PGandE executives said it would be too expensive to install the new cooling towers and seismic upgrades needed to keep it open. Both the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council pushed for the closure because they say that there is no long-term disposal method for nuclear waste, and the plants consume too much water, etc., etc. But the green group picketing this time is in favor of keeping the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open and of building the new SMRs (small modular reactors), which can be installed quickly around California. This would soon eliminate burning cheap natural gas and coal but would decrease CO2 and other gases substantially over the coming decade. Search for SMR for updated information.
Original working URL: https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.14/nuclear-power-divides-californias-environmentalists
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