If the 7.0-magnitude earthquake 30 miles off the northern California shore was not a wake-up call for residents of San Luis Obispo, are they waiting for the one that could possibly strike 30 yards off the coast of San Luis Obispo? Seismologists have long warned that an overdue “Big One” (7.8 magnitude or higher), which California has not experienced since 1906, could happen at any point.
Since the initial application for Diablo Canyon Power Plant which was written 60 years ago—much seismic and geographic information has come to light. Notably there are four earthquake faults running under and near Diablo, the closest of which is a mere 1,000 yards away (the Shoreline fault). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has failed to give any serious credence to multiple verifiable reports on the seismic danger. The NRC is in the process of considering an application by PG&E to continue operations of the plant for an additional 20 years.
The recent earthquake also triggered a tsunami warning, and residents were advised to relocate “to higher ground.” Should a tsunami warning also be issued in San Luis Obispo after an earthquake, the existing evacuation routes would fail. Highway 101 backs up on an almost daily basis with either an accident, a fire, commuter traffic, and other events. Residents would not be able to leave the county. The SLO Emergency Evacuation Plan was devised decades ago before the population of San Luis Obispo County increased.
Any decision to extend the operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, whose nuclear waste is stored onsite, is totally unacceptable and dangerous. A large swath of the Central Coast could become uninhabitable.
Patricia Kohlen
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Dec 19-29, 2024.
