Court Denies Group’s Request to Halt Diablo Steam Generator Replacement

By David Sneed, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Apr. 11–A San Francisco Superior Court Wednesday denied a petition to suspend Pacific Gas and Electric’s permits to replace Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s steam generators.

The request to stay the permits was filed as part of a lawsuit by a Southern California environmental group against the California Coastal Commission, which issued the final permits for the replacement project in December.

The court’s refusal to issue the stay allows PG&E to proceed with the replacement project as planned. Work to replace the plant’s eight steam generators is scheduled to begin next year.

The utility has offered to conserve 1,200 acres of land it owns around the Point San Luis Lighthouse as a means of offsetting any damage the project will cause the environment. The environmental group that sued and Coastal Commission staff wanted more than 9,000 acres conserved, but the commission rejected that recommendation

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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