One of California's U.S. Senators is calling on the state to help temporarily extend the life of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein says the state has some of the most ambitious clean energy plans in the world. But she says there won't be enough green energy projects online in time to meet the gap created by the San Luis Obispo County plant's planned closing in 2025.
Feinstein says the alternative would be using more fossil fuels, which would reverse progress on emissions reductions. She says the plant provides 17 percent of the state's carbon free electricity.
Feinstein is urging the State Legislature to pass SB 846, which would support extending the life of PG&E's plant. The plant is also considered to be a good candidate for a federal funding program to keep some existing nuclear power plants open. One of the main factors in the plans to shut down the plant is the high cost of retrofitting it to meet updated environmental requirements.
