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| Fig. 1: Aerial view of Rancho Seco nuclear power plant. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
After World War II, the high cost of developing nuclear weapons during the war had pressured the U.S. government find ways to put nuclear power into civilian, commercial use. [1] After almost two decades of research to develop nuclear reactors that can power steam turbine for electricity generation, the first commercial nuclear power plant, Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania was finally opened by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in May of 1958. [2] In the decades followed, nuclear power became one of the major sources of electricity in the U.S.
On March 28th, 1979, Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania experienced a cooling malfunction that eventually resulted in a partial meltdown of Unit 2 reactors core. Though investigation after the accident concluded that there were no known adverse health impacts, this accident had become the worst nuclear power accident in U.S. history. [3] The Three Mile Island accident not only led to a nationwide shift of public opinion from supportive to unfavorable of nuclear power, it also caused the government to since require more stringent safety controls and emergency planning, which in turn making nuclear power plants more expensive to construct and operate. [3]
Among all nuclear power plants around the nation affected by the more stringent safety requirement and the increased operating cost at that time, one nuclear power plant, Rancho Seco outside of Sacramento, California (Fig. 1), was particularly affected by this event, as it had an almost identical design as the Babcock and Wilcox reactor model in Unit 2 of Three Mile Island.
After the Three Mile Island accident occurred, safety maintenance and upgrades became the top priority at Rancho Seco. The complexity of nuclear power plants means any safety upgrades would require a large amount of funding, and the cost of an expensive nuclear power plant eventually got passed down to SMUD customer. The reactors were built at a cost of $375 million, but the cost of safety upgrades has surpassed the cost of the plant at $400 million dollars halfway through its expected lifespan. To pay for all the safety maintenance and upgrades, SMUD had to double its electricity rates over a period of 4 years prior to its shutdown. Adding to the rate hike, several accidents occurred at Rancho Seco, further fueling the public's concern on the safety and the economics of continuing to operate this power plant. Eventually, on June 7th of 1989, the residents of Sacramento voted to shut down Rancho Seco. [4]
After the shutdown of Rancho Seco, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station north of San Diego and The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in the San Luis Obispo County became the last two nuclear power plants left in California until 2013. Suffered from the similar high operating cost and safety concerns that led to the shutdown of Rancho Seco, San Onofre announced in 2013 its decision to retire the entire plant. [5] As of today, Diablo Canyon remains the only nuclear power plant in operation in California. PG&E announced in 2016 its plan to retire Diablo Canyon in 2025, marking the end of the history of commercial nuclear power in California. [6]
© Xinbei Guan. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] J. Byrne and S.M. Hoffman. Governing the Atom: The Politics of Risk (Transaction Publishers, 1996).
[2] J. Craddock III, "The Shippingport Atomic Power Station," Physics 241, Stanford University, Winter 2016.
[3] J. Jacabo and B. Seidman "A Brief History of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Known for 1979 Reactor Accident," ABC News, 31 May 17.
[4] M. Wald, "Voters, in a First, Shut Down Nuclear Reactor," New York Times, 8 June 1989.
[5] S. Mufson, "San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant to Shut Down," Washington Post, 7 Jun 13.
[6] K. Leslie "Diablo Canyon will Close in 2025 Without SLO County's $85 Million Settlement," San Luis Obispo Tribune, 11 Jan 18.
