The nuclear accident in Japan and resulting public concern about earthquake safety at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant have led PG&E to ask federal regulators to delay final implementation of the license renewal process for the plant.
In a letter dated Sunday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, PG&E calls its request "prudent" in light of the damage the Japanese nuclear plant sustained a month ago after the earthquake and tsunami there.
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"PG&E therefore requests that the commission delay the final processing of the LRA (license renewal application) such that the renewed operating licenses, if approved, would not be issued until after PG&E has completed the 3-D seismic studies and submitted a report to the NRC addressing the results of those studies," wrote John Conway, PG&E's chief nuclear officer.
PG&E's decision to begin moving its spent fuel to above-ground canisters sparked a legal battle
Operators at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will begin loading the first dry cask with highly radioactive used reactor fuel on June 1.
The decision by plant owners Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to begin transferring its spent fuel to above-ground canisters touched off a groundbreaking legal battle with local antinuclear activists in 2002 - and it continues to this day.
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace wants federal regulators to require that PG&E take additional steps to protect the storage facility from terrorist attacks.