On 2 April 2026 The NRC Granted Permission for DCPP to Run at Least Until 2045
A Day for Celebration
On 2 April 2026, Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Inc. (CGNP) sent a pair of articles and a brief message regarding the NRC license renewal to 2045 to our core supporters and a few journalists. Later that day, I and my wife met with about 100 other DCPP advocates, friends, and some key Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) managers and staff at a local country club. We enjoyed the celebration, meeting with fellow nuclear power advocates. We attended from start to finish. We were embargoed from sharing any information about this event until after it was over. I had to keep quiet about what I already knew from closely tracking the progress of the NRC license renewal process. Readers of the GreenNUKE Substack have received updates during the past two years. Prior to March 2024, updates were posted to the CGNP website at https://CGNP.org . We recently updated CGNP’s tagline to read, “California Needs DCPP’s 24/7 Reliable Power.”
I received the invitation shown above from plant owner PG&E on March 25, 2026. The text on the invitation read, “We are expecting to make an exciting announcement about the future of Diablo Canyon Power Plant on April 2nd and would like to thank you for your support over the years by inviting you and a guest to celebrate with us.”
During the past decade, I’ve experienced many emotional lows and a few highs as an advocate for DCPP extended operations. One of the particularly low days was the surprise announcement on June 21, 2016 that DCPP would be needlessly closed in 2025. I sat in the front row of the audience for a public meeting which included seeing one of the leaders of SLO Mothers for Peace on the dais gloating about her leadership in shutting the plant down. Later I learned of the process I characterize as blackmail by the California State Lands Commission (CASLC) to force PG&E to agree to close the plant in order to obtain a lease extension to 2025 of the intake and outfall structures. This improper process was an example of regulatory overreach, as the California Constitution limits the CASLC’s remit to assuring the people of the State of California receive a fair rate of return for any lands held in public trust.
Despite the above challenges (and many others,) we have been optimistic that we would eventually see the DCPP NRC license renewal to 2045. I’ve been laser-focused on this activity, spending over 30,000 hours including many “all nighters” in order to support DCPP extended operations. I’m grateful for the steadfast support of my wife Linda. The majority of my time was spent as an intervenor before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC.) While I do not have a Juris Doctor (J.D.), during more than three decades I learned that I have a good legal mind. I received excellent mentoring from the Honorable Mike Gatto, who served four terms as a California Assemblyman. I appreciate my friendship with Attorney Gatto. My tenacious personality includes completing three marathons between 1981 and 2005 and completing the arduous process of earning my science Ph.D. in radiation biophysics in 1984 with the strong support of Carol Lewis, Ph.D. in the Biophysics Department at the University of Buffalo. I combined those aspects together to be the author of thousands of pages of written legal testimony before the CPUC advocating for DCPP extended operations.
Here’s one of the passages on page 167 that journalist Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow uses to portray me in her 2025 book Atomic Dreams - The New Nuclear Evangelists and the Fight for the Future of Energy
https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Dreams-Nuclear-Evangelists-Future/dp/1643753150
..... But what really set CGNP apart was that they were official intervenors with the California Public Utilities Commission. That meant that they could submit comments to the commission whenever a proceeding was underway.
In 2016, dozens of intervenors, including Mothers for Peace and Friends of the Earth, submitted comments about the plan to close Diablo Canyon. CGNP was the lone intervenor that argued for extending the plant’s life beyond 2025. The proposal’s “‘clean energy vision,’” CGNP wrote in their comments, using scare quotes, “is one at odds with science, with public health, environmental health, California ratepayers, and the health of the California economy.” They also wrote responses to the comments of the other intervenors. All of this added up to thousands of pages over the years. Heather and Kristin sometimes smirked at Gene’s idiosyncrasies, but they ultimately expressed deep gratitude that he and his associates were doing this grunt work......
Here’s a close up of a portion of my name badge for the 2 April 2026 PG&E celebration. I appreciate the message, “Proud to Power California - Diablo Canyon Power Plant.”
This 4 April 2026 article by Dan Yurman in his blog Neutron Bytes captures some of the challenges that DCPP advocates have faced for more than a decade.
Here are some photographs I took of friends and advocates at the 2 April 2026 celebration.
Left to right: My wife Linda Nelson, Heather Hoff, Jennifer Klay, Ph.D. and Ninah Hartley
San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg and Linda Nelson
Linda Nelson, Carl Wurtz, past-president of CGNP who drove from Burbank, California to attend the celebration, and Christina Talacko, CEO and co-founder of Glow Strategies. Christina is based in Australia.
Additional details are found in the attached articles I curated.
Our local newspaper of record, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, promptly published an online story at about noon on 2 April 2026. The above the fold headline of the 5 April 2026 print edition by reporter Stephanie Zappelli was titled “NRC: Diablo power plant can operate another 20 years.” The online article was updated on 3 April 2026 with some excellent photographs of the DCPP turbine deck.
On 2 April 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom also applauded the NRC license renewal. “Governor Newsom welcomes approval of Diablo Canyon license renewals, delivering on California’s commitment to a clean and reliable grid.”
Both of these articles appear in one file:
From the American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Newswire on 3 April 2026, “NRC approves Diablo Canyon license renewal, extension“
On 3 April 2026, Senior editor Darrell Proctor of Power Magazine was the author of, “ NRC Extends Operating License for California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant.”
On 2 April 2026, KCLU Reporter Lance Orozco was the author of, “ The federal government approves the license renewal for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.”
On 2 April 2026, KSBY TV-6 for San Luis Obispo, CA reporter Leslie Santibañez-Molina was the author of, “Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves 20-year extension for Diablo Canyon Power Plant to operate.”
On 2 April 2026, The San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Rob Nikolewski was the author of, “California’s last nuclear power plant gets a 20-year extension from federal regulators.”
On 2 April 2026, The Santa Maria Times reporter Jennifer Best was the author of, “Diablo Canyon gets federal licensing to extend operation through 2045.”
Regrettably, the editorial stance of The Los Angeles Times opposes DCPP. The headline of the 2 April 2026 article by Blanca Begert shows this bias, “Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant gets final go-ahead to run through 2030.”
In my opinion, DCPP owner PG&E authored a 2 April 2026 press release which fails to make a concise and clear statement of the environmental and ratepayer benefits of DCPP extended operations. The title is, “U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Approves License Renewal Application for Extended Operations of Diablo Canyon.”
In upcoming articles, CGNP will be highlighting the obstacles to California legislation authorizing DCPP operations to 2045. We have concerns regarding the doctrinaire opposition to DCPP extended operations by local California Senator John Laird and local California Assembly Member Dawn Addis. Senator Laird seems to believe that California’s huge population and economy can be powered by sunlight and breezes, as advocated by the Sierra Club. CGNP would not be surprised if Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary PacifiCorp continues to lobby for DCPP operations to cease to expand the business opportunities for the firm’s large fleet of coal-fired power plants in and around Wyoming. CGNP has already established the wholesale electric power sales of PacifiCorp to mostly California entities exceeds a billion dollars since November, 2014 via the innocuously-named Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM.) WEIM exploits a loophole in California SB 1368 (Perata, 2006) barring long-term power exports to California from polluting out-of-state coal-fired power plants. California legislators should review the 30 March 2026 letter from six New England governors in support of nuclear power generation, “Advancing Nuclear Energy for a 21st Century New England Electricity Grid.”
As with the previous 50 articles, CGNP will update this article via the comment section. We invite you to disseminate this article to your friends and colleagues. Please comment as well. Thank you.
Here is a passage i enjoyed from the Constellation Energy Weekly Energy Industry Summary that I received on 7 April 2026. Constellation Energy is distinguished by operating the biggest fleet of nuclear power reactors (21 reactors) in the United States. Since Constellation Energy acquired this fleet, the firm has significantly increased the capacity factors of the reactors their fleet, a positive accomplishment.
https://www.constellation.com/solutions/for-your-commercial-business/energy-tools-and-resources/energy-market-update.html
..... California will remain a nuclear state for the foreseeable future. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the 20 year license renewal for Diablo Canyon last week following a three year public review process that also included approvals from a variety of state agencies that no one would have seriously expected to oppose it. The renewal completes a process set in motion when state lawmakers passed and the Governor signed SB 846 in 2022, directing Diablo Canyon to continue operating through 2030 in response to statewide grid reliability concerns and a particular elected official’s presidential aspirations. The plant supplied roughly 10% of the state’s electricity and 16% of its zero-carbon power in 2024. While the federal license technically extends through 2044–2045, state law under SB 846 caps operations at 2030, and any extension beyond that date will require a separate vote by the California Legislature – a prospect that is expected to face heavy opposition from the anti-nuke crowd and other environmental groups citing proximity to earthquake faults along with the plant's heavy ocean water usage for cooling – but it will happen anyway.....
Here's an excellent OpEd regarding the need to keep DCPP running written by Clive Pinder in the 14 April 2026 print edition of the San Luis Obispo Tribune, the local paper of record. The title is, "The greenest thing on the Central Coast is the one they want to shut down."
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/opinion/article315354741.html?giftCode=21f368a6021b75760fa7bd4e109b12730f78a344088b88a8017cf6ed128bbd11
Clive Pinder's profile is available at his website In Search of Sanity
https://www.insearchofsanity.org/who-we-are.html