Every 24 hours for the past 40 years, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant has circulated 2.5 billion gallons of ocean water through cooling pipes to prevent the reactors from melting down and causing an unfathomable nuclear catastrophe. That’s equal to 1.6 million gallons per minute. The process kills an inestimable number of larval fish and plankton. Water disgorged from the plant is 20 degrees warmer than it was when it was sucked in, causing constant ocean warming! The California Coastal Commission’s staff report states that it would take 420 years to repair the oceanic harms caused by Diablo Canyon if the plant ceases operations in 2030.
The Coastal Commission is considering PG&E’s proposal to permanently conserve 1,100 acres surrounding the nuclear plant as mitigation for being “California’s deadliest predator” of ocean life for the past 40 years (according to the commission) in exchange for running the plant for five more years. A paltry offer. A joke, really. How do you make up for the trillions of fish, plankton, and microorganisms that never lived because of Diablo Canyon? By selling 1,100 acres to the highest nonprofit bidder? We are in the midst of a climate crisis. California’s deadliest ocean predator should shut down now.
Linda Seeley
Los Osos
This article appears in Nov 13-23, 2025.