On February 20 a Federal Court of Appeals in Washington DC rejected an attempt by Pacific Gas & Electric and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to quash a lawsuit filed by environmental group Friends Of the Earth (FOE). According to Friends Of the Earth, the suit alleges that the "NRC illegally allowed PG&E to alter Diablo Canyon's nuclear plant license.
"FOE contends the NRC acted in secret and collusion with PG&E to hide Diablo Canyon's vulnerability to earthquakes stronger than it was built to withstand. A decision in favor of Friends of the Earth could result in PG&E having to shut down its reactors, pending a public hearing to examine the new risks at the plant."
Diablo Canyon has been controversial since the beginning. Located on California's Central coast near San Luis Obispo, and in an earthquake and tsunami zone,
1900 no nukes protesters associated with the Abalone Alliance were arrested in 1981 over a period of two weeks in an attempt to stop its construction.
Several years before that, The China Syndrome, a movie starring Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, appeared on silver screens across the nation, at least partially inspired by the struggle at Diablo Canyon. This was 1979, the year the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster melted down into American consciousness.
And in fact Friends of the Earth itself was founded all the way back in 1969 by environmentalist David Brower because of concerns about the possible construction of Diablo Canyon.
Full story FEDS ALLOW LAWSUIT TO SHUT DOWN DIABLO CANYON TO PROCEED by Michael Steinberg
Feds Allow Lawsuit to Shut Down Diablo Canyon to Proceed