Latest news with #DiabloCanyon
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant could safely operate for 20 more years, report says
PG&E could safely operate the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant for another 20 years, according to a safety report released on Thursday. In response to PG&E's application to renew its operating licenses for 20 years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed inspections of Units 1 and 2 to evaluate how aging would impact the power plant's 'passive' systems like concrete, wall thickness and electric cabling. According to the report, PG&E's plans and procedures to address aging would meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safety requirements. 'It's a key milestone and step to re-licensing the plant,' PG&E's vice president of nuclear business and technical services Maureen Zawalick said of the report. PG&E applied on Nov. 7, 2023, for a 20-year license renewal to continue operating Units 1 and 2 of the power plant. If the NRC approves the license renewals, Units 1 and 2 would have the option to operate until 2044 and 2045, respectively. But only with the state Legislature's approval. Senate Bill 846 allowed PG&E to keep the power plant running until 2030. Even if PG&E is granted the two license renewals, the state must issue its own approval for the power plant to operate past that year. Zawalick said PG&E stands at the ready to continue providing electricity if the commission and the state allow. The power plant provides the state with nearly 10% of its power, serving about 4 million customers, she said. 'Continuing to operate the plant supports the state's electric reliability and affordability,' she said. 'It also helps, as we've talked about, meeting our aggressive climate goals of the state.' PG&E may refund customers $43 million for unplanned outage at Diablo power plant In a few weeks, the NRC will release the final environmental impact statement for the plant's 20-year license renewal. Then, on July 8, the commission's Advisory Committee of Reactor Safeguards will hold a public hearing at its headquarters in Maryland, where PG&E will present its case for renewing the operating licenses. Zawalick compared the hearing to 'defending our dissertation.' Later this year, the commission is expected to make a decision about the license renewal. PG&E must also get certifications from the California Coastal Commission and the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to continue operating the power plant, Zawalick said.
TechCrunch
28-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Atomic Canyon wants to be ChatGPT for the nuclear industry
Tech companies are betting heavily that nuclear power can help deliver the electricity they need to realize their AI plans. But data centers need power tomorrow, and the nuclear industry isn't known for its speed. Trey Lauderdale thinks AI can give nuclear the speed that it needs. Lauderdale's obsession with nuclear started close to home. In San Luis Obispo, California, where he lives, he kept running into people who worked at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. 'They're like the coaches of our flag football team,' he said. In talking with them, he learned that nuclear power plants are swimming in documents. Diablo Canyon, near Lauderdale's home in San Luis Obispo, has around 2 billion pages worth, he said. Lauderdale, a serial healthcare entrepreneur, had a hunch that AI could help the nuclear industry tame its paper problem. Lauderdale founded Atomic Canyon a little over a year and a half ago, initially funding it with his own money. The startup uses AI to help engineers, maintenance technicians, and compliance officers find the documents they need. The startup landed a deal with Diablo Canyon in late 2024. Lauderdale said the deal led to inquiries from other nuclear power companies. 'That's when I knew, as an entrepreneur, we were at a point where we needed to raise a round of capital.' Atomic Canyon closed a $7 million seed round led by the Energy Impact Partners, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Participating investors include Commonweal Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Tower Research Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, and previous angel investors. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW When Atomic Canyon first started, its AI engineers tested various models with underwhelming results. 'We quickly realized the AI hallucinates when it sees these nuclear words,' Lauderdale said. 'It hasn't seen enough examples of the acronyms.' But building a new AI model requires massive computing power. So Lauderdale talked his way into a meeting with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which conducts nuclear research and also happens to have the world's second fastest supercomputer. The lab was intrigued by the idea and awarded Atomic Canyon 20,000 GPU hours worth of compute. Atomic Canyon's models use sentence embedding, which is particularly suited to indexing documents. It tasks them with making a nuclear power plant's documents searchable using retrieval-augmented generation, or RAG. RAG uses large language models to create responses to queries, but it requires the LLMs to refer to specific documents in an effort to reduce hallucination. For now, Atomic Canyon is sticking to document search, in part because the stakes are lower. 'One of the reasons we're starting generative work around the titles of documents is because getting that wrong might cause someone a little frustration. It doesn't put anyone at risk at the plant,' Lauderdale said. Eventually, Lauderdale envisions Atomic Canyon's AI creating 'a first round draft' of documents, complete with references. 'You are always going to have a human in the loop here,' he said. Lauderdale didn't put a timeline on that effort, though. Search is 'the foundational layer,' he said. 'You have to nail the search.' Plus, given the number of documents in the nuclear industry, 'we have a long runway in search alone,' he said.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
From WWII to Diablo Canyon junk reef: Readers add SLO County history insight
Local readers have recently emailed to help answer questions posed by Photos From the Vault over the last few weeks. The responses show a fascinating way to see the historical stepping stones to where we all stand today. Also in this column is an update on a threatened historical gem, the California Digital Newspaper Collection. Thanks to our readers, here are their insights: In response to a recent Vault, Gary McMaster, chairman and curator of the Camp Roberts Historical Museum, took the time to look through training books from the World War II era. The camp was one of the largest military training facilities in the United States. It was reactivated during the Korean War as well. McMaster found images of 'Little Berlin' and a simulated Japanese village used to train combat troops during the war. During World War II, the United States had to fight on two fronts, both Europe and the Pacific. In the latter phases of the war in the Pacific Theater, invasion of the home islands of Japan was being planned for and the bloody island-hopping battles toward Japan gave military planners pause. Urban combat is recognized as being especially difficult. Specialized training is required to minimize losses and effectively achieve objectives. The museum is a fascinating visit, open Thursdays and Saturdays excluding some national holidays. Admission is free and group tours are available via reservation. In answer to the question about the proposal to create an artificial reef near Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, a Tribune reader wrote in with a link to a nautical chart. Nautical Charts Online shows a rectangular obstruction southeast of the plant at 9 fathoms or about 54 feet below ocean level. So it appears that some time after 1984, the proposal became a reality just outside the security zone and in the neighborhood of other existing natural obstructions. Lastly, a troubling update to the budget shortfall for the California Digital Newspaper Collection. Regular readers of this column know that the CDNC is the gold standard for researching names and events throughout California from 1846 to more recent times. As much as 25% of the site's content is only available on the CDNC. If you haven't already, I challenge you to take a moment to search the name of a grandparent or a California event from history that has always made you curious. To a history fan like me it is better than a theme park or a movie. It documents the real time experiences of history at the time it was being made. At times it is a revelation to see how some things have changed but that often human motivations connect us through time. It is a fascinating and free encyclopedia of California events and personalities. As Director Brian Geiger said in a recent email, 'unfortunately, the news is worse than I expected.' The deleted funding line for the budget was for this year, not next, and now the organization has a scant three months to collect donations to save public access to the archive. Otherwise as Geiger writes, 'We will almost certainly have to cease operations.' They have a donation page with the goal of raising $300,000 by June 30.
