| Diablo Canyon Power Plant | |
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 Diable Canyon Power Plant
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| Data | |
| Coordinates | 35°12′39.10″N 120°51′22.23″W / 35.210861°N 120.856175°WCoordinates: 35°12′39.10″N 120°51′22.23″W / 35.210861°N 120.856175°W |
| Owner | Pacific Gas & Electric |
| Operator | Pacific Gas & Electric |
| Start of commercial operation |
Unit 1: May 7, 1985 Unit 2: March 13, 1986 |
| Reactors | |
| Reactor supplier | Westinghouse |
| Reactor type | Pressurized water reactor |
| Reactors active | 2 (2,240 MW) |
| Power | |
| Total power generation in 2007 | 18,588 GW·h |
| Status | Operating |
| Other details | |
| Architect | Pacific Gas & Electric |
| License expires |
Unit 1: November 2, 2024 Unit 2: August 20, 2025 |
| NRC region | Region 4 |
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Website www.pge.com/.../diablocanyon/ |
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As of 2008-11-25
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NRC Region Four (West) |
|---|
| Arizona |
| Palo Verde |
| Arkansas |
| Arkansas 1 |
| California |
| Diablo
Canyon San Onofre |
| Kansas |
| Wolf Creek |
| Louisiana |
| River Bend Waterford |
| Mississippi |
| Grand Gulf Yellow Creek* |
| Missouri |
| Callaway |
| Nebraska |
| Cooper Fort Calhoun |
| Texas |
| Comanche Peak South Texas |
| Washington |
| Columbia |
|
* unfinished |
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The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-Loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about 750 acres (3.0 km²) in Avila Beach, California. Together, the twin 1,100 megawatt reactors produce about 18,000 GW·h of electricity annually, supplying the electrical needs of more than 2.2 million people, sent along the Path 15 500-kV lines that connect to this plant.
Diablo Canyon is designed to withstand an earthquake of 7.5 on the Richter scale[1] from four faults, including the nearby San Andreas and Hosgri faults. Equipped with advanced seismic monitoring and safety systems, the plant is designed to shutdown safely in the event of significant ground motion.
The plant draws its secondary cooling water from the Pacific Ocean, and during heavy storms both units are throttled back by 80% to prevent kelp from entering the cooling water intake.
Contents |
Unit One is a 1,122 MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Westinghouse. It went online on 7 May 1985 and is licensed to operate through 2 November 2024[2]. In 2006, Unit One generated 9,944,983 MW·h of electricity, at a nominal capacity factor of 101.2%.
Unit Two is a 1,118 MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Westinghouse. It went online on 3 March 1986 and is licensed to operate through 20 August 2025[3]. In 2006, Unit Two generated 8,520,000 MW·h of electricity, at a capacity factor of 88.2%.
Diablo Canyon was built and entered service despite legal challenges and civil disobedience from the anti-nuclear protesters of the Abalone Alliance.[4] Over a two-week period in 1981, 1,900 activists were arrested at Diablo Canyon Power Plant. It was the largest arrest in the history of the U.S. anti-nuclear movement.[4]
Pacific Gas & Electric Company went through six years of hearings, referenda and litigation to have the Diablo Canyon plant approved. The chief concern about the plant was whether it was sufficiently earthquake-proof. The site was deemed safe when construction started in 1968. But by the time of the plant's completion in 1973, a seismic fault had been discovered two miles out to sea, a fault capable of generating a quake comparable to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The company responded to the resulting protests by improving the structural integrity of the building.[5]
Starting October 22, 2008, Unit 2 was taken offline for approximately two days due to a rapid influx of jellyfish at the intake.[6]
In The Simpsons, Homer Simpson references both Diablo Canyons 1 and 2 when checking his nuclear safety board for faulty nuclear plant lights across the U.S in the episode "Bart on the Road".
  | In the world of nuclear power crisis - In The World of Nuclear Power Crisis - Life Magazine May 1979, pp.23-30 |
| | Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon - H-Net Reviews |
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