Why California Is Reconsidering Its Decision to Shun Nuclear Power
The state is considering extending the life of its last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, and allowing construction of new reactors to help meet its clean energy goals.
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Why California Is Reconsidering Its Decision to Shun Nuclear Power
The state is considering extending the life of its last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, and allowing construction of new reactors to help meet its clean energy goals.
Established nuclear plants like Diablo Canyon in California tend to produce relatively affordable power.Credit...
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Photographs by Adam Perez
Ivan Penn, who has covered nuclear energy for more than 15 years, reported from the Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Sept. 9, 2026Updated 12:39 p.m. ET
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant, which sits on a cliff on California’s Central Coast, has been the subject of ceaseless protests and political battles since it was proposed in 1963.
Now, the plant is at the center of yet another major debate. After shuttering all the state’s other nuclear power plants in recent decades, California is considering extending Diablo’s life and lifting a moratorium on new reactors.
That these decisions are even on the table in California is a testament to the substantial change in public views of nuclear energy, which for decades has been reviled by the liberal lawmakers and environmental groups that wield tremendous power and influence in the state.
Many of its leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have expressed support for nuclear energy. The California Legislature last month passed a bill to commission a study on partly lifting the ban on new reactors.
Much of the change of heart has to do with the growing concern that California will need nuclear reactors to achieve its 2045 goal of getting 100 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources, a category that includes wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower and nuclear.
State lawmakers prohibited new nuclear plants a half-century ago until the federal government found a place to permanently store the spent but still radioactive fuel removed from nuclear reactors — a goal that has not yet been achieved. Spent fuel has long been stored at nuclear power plants.
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Originally published by nytimes.com. Syndicated material does not necessarily reflect the views of Glamour Canada.
